Sakura Haruno, you will be mine!
by R-Wraith
Summary: AU Sasuke, Naruto, Neji and Shikamaru all have feelings for Sakura Haruno. Rivalries begin to emerge as the end of year dance approaches and the boys are forced, one way or another, to face their feelings. ?xSaku R
1. Neji: Realisation

_Disclaimer: Clever joke about not owning Naruto goes here_

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The school of the story takes place between 8:00 am and 3:00pm

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_Monday, 7:50 am, School bus_

Rain battered against the windows as Neji sat on the bus next to his…_exuberant_ friend lee. Lee was bouncing up and down, waving his arms in the air and re-telling a tale of some great sporting achievement and how it was all down to the splendour of the power and light of youth.

After a good few minutes of Lee's zealous ranting about youth Neji stood up and excused himself from Lee and sought out a seat next to someone more… quiet.

Don't get him wrong, he didn't dislike Lee and his speeches but this morning he felt the need for some quiet and intelligent conversation about anything other than the springtime of youth.

Scanning the bus Neji could see only a few empty seats, none of their occupants sticking out apart from the pink hair of a lonely Sakura Haruno.

He had never spent much time with Sakura but the time had had spent with her he found her to be quite enjoyable to talk to. She was sitting with her pink parka on and reading a textbook from school. Wondering why she was alone Neji sat down next to her

"Alone Haruno?"

She raised her eyebrows slightly and nodded before returning to her book

"Reading on transport can cause motion sickness, you know" he added, trying (for some reason) to drag some conversation out of her

She made eye contact with him and smiled "I don't get motion sickness." Again she returned to her book. Just as Neji began to wonder why she was being so difficult to talk to she looked back up "Still, it's sweet that you care."

Neji felt the faintest of blushes begin to make its way up his neck, and on his pale complexion even a faint blush was noticeable. So he changed the subject.

"So uhm, what's got you so interested in your textbook?"

She looked back up at him and shrugged "I have a history test first thing and if I fail then professor Kakuzu is going to go ballistic at me, it's making me really nervous"

She looked slightly worried and Neji had a strange feeling; he wanted to make her feel better no matter what the cost. The feeling was gone faster than it came and Neji was left wondering what the heck it was.

He regained his cool and smirked slightly "You'll do fine Sakura, It's not like someone of your academic ability to mess up on a simple class test." Neji inwardly scolded himself; he always used such pompous language when he was nervous; he hoped Sakura had never managed to pick up on this.

"Thanks Neji" She smiled "that makes me feel better"

The blush Neji had fought off had come back with a vengeance so he decided he best excuse himself completely.

"Well Haruno, looks like we've arrived at school, I better find Lee before he gets off the bus and rushes off without me… and good luck… I guess" He mumbled

"Bye Neji, I'll make sure and tell you how my test was, you really did make me feel better."

Face flushing red, Neji began to walk back over to Lee.

_'Pull yourself together Neji… she's just a girl, she's a year younger than you, there's no way you could be attracted to her…you have a girlfriend for Goodness sake...'_

Just as the bus screeched to a halt, and Neji fell on top of some kids from the year below, it suddenly dawned on him.

_He was attracted to Sakura Haruno…_


	2. Naruto: Running late

Naruto: I dont own Disclaimer

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_Monday, 8:45 am, street path_

Naruto** hated** Mondays.

In the short hour he had been awake he had managed to; sleep in, stain his shirt, forget his school bag and his coat and, to top it all off, miss his bus. Yes fate had not been kind to the young boy and, little did he know, it didn't intend on making the rest of his day any better for him either.

Minutes after he had rushed out of the house Naruto had felt the light spit of rain and had decided he wouldn't need a coat – however minutes later the rain was in full swing and it was icy cold to boot.

Drenched with rain and freezing cold he continued trudging his way to school. Now that he gave it some thought, the extra hour he had stolen in bed was definitely not worth missing the bus and walking to school. He'd rather have gotten up an hour early!

Things were finally begin to look up when Naruto noticed that the Ichikaru ramen shop had just opened and, to top it all off, there were no customers.

Having missed breakfast and being pretty close to hypothermia, Naruto was delighted that his favourite shop was open; as the place opened after school did morning ramen was a rare luxury. Today however, was going to be the exception to that rule! This ramen was going to be so good!

Naruto stood on the roadside and took a step onto the road; a car whizzed passed him, soaking him with the water from a nearby puddle, and scaring him within an inch of his life. He glared after it and shook his fist "Hey! What the hell's your problem? You coulda' killed me!"

The car slowed to a halt and its window began to roll down; with a grown man's head poking out from it. The head turned slightly to look at the screaming youth; it belonged to a blonde man in his mid twenties.

"Hey Naruto! Sorry about that" said the driver while stifling a laugh.

Naruto just stood and blinked in surprise. The driver was one of the art teachers from school. "Uncle… Dei…Deidara?" The young boy spluttered, the puddle water trickling down from his freshly wet fringe.

Deidara's brow furrowed; he was not quite sure whether to smirk at simply being called "Uncle Deidara" or to frown at it. He was, after all, the kid's teacher. A figure of authority! More than any mere Uncle!

"Uhm… It's Professor Deidara, Naruto; it's a school day, yeah?"

Naruto's anger suddenly came back to him "HEY! YOU NEARLY KILLED ME! YOU SPLASHED ME WITH THAT PUDDLE AND NOW YOU'RE TELLING **ME** WHAT TO CALL **YOU**!?"

Deidara reversed closer to, ignoring the screaming and pushed open the passenger door. "Get in" he told his nephew

"Huh?" Naruto's dazed response was no surprise to Deidara. The kid was always like this.

"You're late, I'm late, I have a car, you don't have a car and I'll give you a lift into school. Sounds fair, yeah?"

"But_professor _Deidara…" began Naruto, stressing the title, "I wanted some ramen! I slept in and I'm cold and wet and hungry!" he whined, knowing fine well he would eventually get into his uncle's car anyway.

"Listen, just get in Naruto; I'll give you my bar of chocolate if you just shut up, I have a bad enough headache as it is without you screaming your problems at me, yeah!?"

Uzumaki Naruto was definitely not a genius, but even he knew better than to annoy his uncle Deidara past shouting point. He had once gotten into a "disagreement" with Uncle Sasori and things had gotten extremely out of hand.

"Ok, ok… thanks Uncle Deidara! This means so much; I've had such a bad morning so far you wouldn't believe it!"

Naruto hopped in the car and slammed his hands down hard on the dashboard

"ALLRIGHT! LET'S GO DEIDARA!!!"

"Don't hit the car, yeah? And fasten your seatbelt"

"Yeah yeah, lets go already!"

'Really, this kid gets excited at the slightest thing…' Deidara said to himself

"Fine, just keep it down, yeah?"

Deidara sped up and the car raced down the road towards the school

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A/N: At first I didn't want to include Akatsuki characters, but I decided they were going to be useful in the long run. They wont be main characters though, sorry Akatsuki fanboys and girls :(

Next chapter will focus on Shikamaru, but first I have to write it, how troublesome...


	3. Shikamaru: What a drag

Disclaimay; Me no own Narutay [

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_Monday, **2pm**, Science lab._

Such. A.** Drag.**

Those are the words Shikamaru would use to sum up going to school so early in the morning.

Other choice words include "troublesome", "a pain in the neck" and "a total waste of time"

Sighing aloud and uttering his opinion on his science class ('troublesome') the young boy slipped his head onto his desk and inserted his earphones into his ear while turning on his, non-name brand, MP3 player.

_Slow Emotion Replay by The The; A_ great song and by far one of Shikamaru's favourites; if only for the slow beat and the easy to remember lyrics. He never looked too deep into lyrics; it was bothersome.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and wondered if he could catch a few minutes sleep before his next class. It wasn't like he couldn't easily catch up if he missed anything important, and the price he would have to pay if his teacher caught him sleeping was a mere 10, maybe 15, minute lecture. No great tragedy.

A minute or two into the song an energetic presence made itself known to him.

Opening an eye he saw the outline of his lab partner, Sakura Haruno, and to his annoyance she was talking away, obviously unaware that he could not possibly hear her; and when he told her about her mistake it would be him who got the blame for it. She was troublesome that way. What to do?

Deciding it was best to pause his music and attempt to catch up with the conversation, rather than let her chew his head off in rage Shikamaru sat up, ready to catch up with the rest of the conversation.

A good ten minutes later Shikamaru had managed to piece together what the pink haired nuisance was saying. She was complaining about everything under the sun; makeup, shampoo, traffic, school.

'She must be in a bad mood... otherwise she wouldn't be complaining so much'

He looked back at her to see that she was still in a fit of complaining, to say this would be troublesome was an understatement; but for some reason he felt he had to ask.

"…So… what's upset you Haruno?" he interrupted

"What do you mean 'what's upset me?'"

"Well… you're acting annoyed at everything… and that's not normal. You're usually quite calm in general; it's one of the reasons I can stand you. Though don't get me wrong, you can be a pain in the neck."

She paused and began to say something, unsure if she should or not.

"Oh… Nothing… nothing… uhm…it's just this guy I guess…"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows. A guy? Ok now she was interested. She was WAY to upset for this "guy" to be Sasuke Uchiha…

"I take it it's not Sasuke?"

"As if, come on Nara, you of all people should know I'm over Sasuke" 

Shikamaru frowned; '_Why should I know that?' _

She continued as she twirled her hair and biting her lower lip "Well… there's this guy but he's actu--"

The bell sounded overhead; interrupting her.

While smiling at him and packing up her things she sighed

"Listen; it really doesn't matter, I'm sure it'll be fine."

She walked past him and ruffled his hair "Thanks for listening anyway Nara"

He didn't splutter, he didn't blush and he didn't get angry. What troubled him was the fact that he smiled. _Why did he smile?_

He shrugged and packed away his (unopened) textbook. Noticing the pink cell phone sitting there. It definitely wasn't his. It had to be Sakura's. He knew where she lived… he could drop it in at her house on his way home… if he didn't take her it he would never hear the end of it. '

'_Women are weird like that'_

He picked up the phone and pushed it into his pocket while walking out of the class.

"…how troublesome…"

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A/N: Shikamaru is hard to write... oddly so. The Next chapter will focus on Sasuke. Also, updates might be infrequent as my internets is down for an unknown period of time.

A biscuit to anyone that worked out the first 4 chapters focused on the 'main characters' and yes, the 5th will focus on Sakura. Expect chapter 5 to be quite short.

Also; I used "such a drag" and "troublesome" because just saying troublesome over and over again would get so annoying, _believe it._


	4. Sasuke: Hn, whatever

Disclaimer: I will avenge my family and my clan! I will not, however, claim ownership of Naruto or any characters therein.

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Monday **6pm '**DokiDoki' Music Store.

"Hn, whatever" Sasuke sighed while flicking through his magazine and taking another sip from his soda can.

"'Hn Whatever'!?" a voice from across the counter roared

The apathetic looked up "Yeah, whatever", another sip of soda, "That's what I said. You got a problem with that. Can't you see I'm busy here?"

The customer clenched his fists in rage. "That's it you cheeky little bas-"

"**Can I help you?" **Interrupted a pleasant voice from the side lines "Just tell me what it is that you need?"

Both males looked over. The voice belonged to Temari Subaku, a girl older than Sasuke.

The complaining man spluttered, torn between continuing his argument with the young Uchiha or actually getting the help he desired from Temari. With a final glare at Sasuke he turned to Temari and began to speak

"I'm trying to buy some tickets for a concert but I can't because that assho-"

"I asked _what_ the problem is, not who." Temari cut him off, shooting a glance at Sasuke; who was once again lost in his magazine and soda. "Now if you'll just follow me I can help you, 'kay?"

Temari lead the man to the cash desk and away from Sasuke. The sudden silence caught the boy's attention and he glanced up to see Temari waving goodbye to the customer and putting the money into the cash register.

She walked back over to him and rolled her eyes.

"There, would that have been so hard Sassy?" she teased him

Sasuke shot her a glare, not so much offended but annoyed at the nickname she insisted on calling him.

"I'm not even supposed to be working tonight." He snapped at her "And that's the only reason I'm slacking off so much. Got it?"

Temari shrugged "I'm sure Tayuya will be here soon and you can leave. It's not like she asks you to cover for her every day. Just every Monday; and every Monday you say yes."

"Hn." Shrugged Sasuke

"Hey don't look too glum. I have to buy a birthday present for this socially retarded kid's birthday. I wouldn't but he's my cousins boyfriend's nephew and 'it would be rude not to' he says."

Silence fell between the two youths as the store's CD continued to play in the background. Sasuke strummed his fingers on his soda can as Temari played with her lip piercing. Minutes passed until Temari broke the comfortable silence.

"Oh look. Here comes Tayuya now! Looks like you can finally go home Sassy."

"Yeah, an hour late" he spat out with added venom.

Tayuya pushed open the door and threw the bag she was carrying aside. She looked unusually flustered.

"Something wrong Tayuya?" asked Temari with obvious worry. When the two girls had first met they could hardly be in the same room without starting a fight, but soon after that they found that they were very alike and, as a result, grew particularly close.

She had a slight blush on her face but managed to shake it off.

Temari raised her eyebrows and even Sasuke's interest was caught.

"No it's nothing, just that complete asshole Sakon. Never mind."

Sasuke felt a surge of annoyance at Sakon and it unnerved him. He put it down to the fact that it was obviously Sakon's fault for making Tayuya late.

"Whatever, I'm leaving. Try not to take so much time to get here next time Tayuya" he said

"S-sorry…" she stuttered to no one in particular before going to hang her coat up. Whatever had happened had obviously gotten to her. It was probably best left alone then.

He pulled on his leather jacket and shot Temari a final look.

"See you tomorrow, and make sure and tell Orochimaru I worked an hour more than I was supposed too."

"'_Hn. __Whatever'_" she sneered while smirking at him. "See ya later Sassssssssy!" she shouted while pulling him into a hug. God she knew how to get to him. He could feel the heat rising in his face from… was it anger? It had to be anger; it wasn't because she and he were now _extremely _close.

She released him from her tight embrace and he immediately hid his blushing face from view and walked to the door while grabbing his magazine and draining the remaining drops of his soda; before throwing the can, sending it soaring directly into the bin.

"Gee Whiz" Whistled Temari "Nice shot Sassy. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to impress me."

His blush deepened as he stepped outside into the cold without another word.

And now it was raining and he would have to walk home. Fantastic.

Just before he took his first step on the road home something grabbed his attention.

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Monday **6:15pm** outside 'DokiDoki'

"HEY, NARUTO, HURRY IT UP, YEAH!?" Shouted a voice inside a car parked just across the road.

A blonde head poked out of the store beside Sasuke. It belonged to his best friend, Naruto Uzumaki, and it was shouting very, very, loudly.

"SHUT UP! I SAID I'D BE A MINUTE! JU-" the screaming stopped as the blonde blinked across the street. "…Sasuke?"

"That sentence doesn't even make sense kiddo" said the owner of the vehicle. It was Naruto's uncle Deidara.

Naruto emerged from the store with a bag in his hands and stared directly at Sasuke.

"Hey… do you need a lift home Sasuke? It's raining and wet and stuff and you could catch a cold! Uncle Deidara caught a cold once after being out in the rain for only 10 minutes! Believe it!"

Sasuke just stared back at him and nodded "Yeah… thanks Naruto…"

Both boys jumped into Deidara's car. Sasuke was surprised at first to see that there was another person in the car. The red head turned around to look at Deidara before giving him a curt kiss on the cheek and hopping out of the car.

"Uhm… Naruto" he whispered "Who was that?"

"That was Sasori. He's Deidara's boyfriend, and Temari's cousin… you work with her right?"

Sasuke smirked; realising just who the "socially retarded" Nephew of Sasori's boyfriend was. After all, it was only a few days until Naruto's birthday.

"Hey… what's so funny Sasuke?"

"Nothing… nothing"

Naruto blinked twice before returning his attention to his uncle.

"What are you waiting for? Drive! Drive!"

Deidara rolled his eyes and began to drive

"I'm not a taxi service, yeah? I'll be taking gad money from your allowance this week kid."

"UNCLE DEIDARA!!! THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

Sasuke clicked on his iPod, keen to avoid the family dispute taking place and it wasn't long before he slid into a pleasant sleep.

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A/N: Wow that chapter was long, and finally characters are starting to cross each other's paths. The next part will focus on Naruto and Deidara's conversation while Sasuke is asleep and maybe on Shikamaru giving Sakura her phone back.

Also, you win a cookie if you noticed that the music store is called dokidoki, which is the sound of a heartbeat. The Tayuya thing goes hand in hand with another story I'm writing at the minute. So don't ponder that too much.

And yes, we will find out what is in Naruto's bag, but it isn't anything majorly huge. Just for a bit of character development.


	5. Naruto: Car Rides Are A Blast!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I pwn him.

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Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 6:20pm, Deidara's car. 

The rain outside had turned into a fully fledged downpour as it pounded and battered against the windows of Deidara's car.

Inside the car though, Naruto had finished shouting at his uncle and had sat back in his seat, arms folded, in a bad mood.

Deidara looked over his shoulder at his nephew and decided it was best to say something to haul him out of his bad mood.

"So… all excited for your birthday?" he asked lamely

Silence took hold for a few minutes as even the rain seemed to be listening in for the response.

"YEAH!" yelled Naruto. "IT'S GONNA BE GREAT! I'M GONNA GET A NEW PHONE AND SOME GAMES AN-…"

Deidara didn't regret asking the question. Hearing Naruto's overjoyed outbursts made him feel… cheerful (and he used that word lightly). Minutes passed until the kid had exhausted every possible gift he could receive.

"So… did you get the ramen you whined for all day?"

"Sure I did. I said I would didn't I? And I never go back on my word. Believe it!" Naruto informed the whole car before looking his uncle directly in the eyes "Keep you eyes on the road; last thing I need is a trip to the ER as a birthday treat."

"Keep your hair on, yeah? Take a look see, the road is dead"

"Ahh! Don't!" yelled Naruto, waving his arms in panic - smacking Sasuke bang on the nose making the sleeping Uchiha – "Don't say words like that on the road!!"

Deidara's mouth curled into a slight smile "What? Words like… dead?"

"Yes!"  
"Dead, dead, dead!"

"STOP IT!"

"Will both of you **please** shut up?" snapped Sasuke from the side

Deidara's smile vanished, not into a frown but into a surprise expression. He simply shrugged and let out a small breath "This is your house now anyway kid. You best get some sleep; you're all cranky"

Sasuke's face visually changed to both anger and embarrassment while Naruto chuckled from the sides

"Poor little Sasuke the cranky little emo kid" Naruto sung repeatedly, joined by his uncle for the last few chants.

Sasuke shot Naruto a glare; Deidara would no doubt tell Itachi about this, who would tell Obito who would tell anyone he met and soon that annoying ditty would be said to him every morning noon and night for the rest of his teenage years.

Despite being livid Sasuke chose not to show that he was bothered in the slightest.

"Yeah… whatever you pair of morons… thanks for the lift" He sighed, though it came out more tired than apathetic the desired effect was hopefully achieved; if he wasn't bothered about it then there was no reason for Deidara to tell Itachi about it. Sasuke was a genius, without a doubt.

As Sasuke slammed the door shut Naruto took the opportunity and hopped into the front seat beside Deidara.

"Hey… Uncle Deidara… you wouldn't mind stopping by Sakura's place on the way home would you? I need to ask her something real quick"

Deidara let out an exaggerated sigh "Do this, do that, go here, go there. I told you already Naruto; I'm not running a taxi service here, yeah?"

Naruto opened his mouth to complain but Deidara cut him off.

"I wont be able to wait for you so you'll have to make your own way home. We got a deal?"

Naruto gave Deidara a large nod before preparing to slam his arms on the cars dashboard. Deidara caught his hands and looked at his nephew

"Don't even think about it" he said

"Or I wont even stop to let you out; I'll just push you out"

Naruto beamed back at him,"You got it!"

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Just a heads up; the chapters will be shorter (until the 28th of February) so that uploads can continue; though i have a few chapters already written 

(I have mock exams in school, only 3 exams, Advanced Chemistry, Modern (Political and Social) Studies and Business Management. Ergo (sorry, couldn't resist that word, its awesome) I wont have a whole lot of time for writing new chapters.


	6. Shikamaru: Troublesome

Disclaimers are too troublesome...

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Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 6:30pm, outside

Shikamaru coughed and spluttered; looking after the car that had just splashed him in annoyance. The sight of the two familiar blondes in the front seat of the car still plaguing him as he strained to remember who they were to him.

He checked his pockets to make sure Sakura's phone was still working – it was, after all, the only reason he had for being outside at that time. It was still working, still shining that obnoxiously cute shade of pink. It had the same magnetic quality as her hair; the kind that made you want to stare at it.

What was he talking about? He didn't pay attention to Sakura, or any women for that matter. They were far too troublesome, not worth the effort. A nuisance, not worth it - '_But why do I feel like she is worth it?_'

He put the thought to the deepest corners of his mind and zipped up his hooded jacket further. The downpour of rain didn't appear to be dwindling to any form of end so he also hastened his step; he could see Sakura's apartment building so it wouldn't be long until he got there. Another three minutes or so, maybe five tops.

Five minutes? Yeah right. It took him ten to get to the building, shivering in the darkness and soaking wet he reached out for the door's handle to enter the building.

Someone shifted in the darkness beyond the glass and wood door. Before Shikamaru could register that someone was coming out of the door the door itself rocketed forwards and knocked him down, along with the stranger and a collection of items from both their pockets onto the cold wet path.

"Ouch…" the figure whined. The voice was blindingly familiar and Shikamaru wondered why he hadn't reilised who it was at first. Only one person he knew was so noisy and dangerous to be around. He groaned inwardly before addressing the whining person "Hey Naruto… what's your hurry huh? You nearly killed me, you ought to be more careful…"

Naruto turned around and blinked twice before shooting Shikamaru his trademark grin "Hey Shikamaru! Sorry! I didn't see you there."

"It's fine, really…" he said, sitting up

An annoying sound interrupted the pair. It was Sakura's phone –_ knocked to the ground courteously of Naruto_ - ringing, the two of them watched it until it stopped. After he had stood up himself Naruto picked up the phone and walked over to Shikamaru; offering him his hand while looking at the phone in his free hand.

Shikamaru grasped the hand and pulled himself upright as he took the phone from Naruto. The other boy gasped as he pointed towards Shikamaru "Hey! Wait! What are you doing with Sakura's cell phone, Huh!?"

Shikamaru ran his hand through his hair "She left it behind in class today and I'm taking it back to her. I know it's troublesome but I was headed this way anyway." He calmly explained "And you? What's got you in such a rush? Smell a fresh batch of ramen somewhere?"

"No. I was talking to Sakura and uh then I uh… looked out the window and…" Naruto looked down the path towards the road and threw his arms in the air "Oh no! No!" he shouted out before taking off for the road.

Shikamaru sighed. Naruto wasn't the most tactful person in the world. Scanning the ground one last time Shikamaru noticed Naruto's wallet lying there. It had to be Naruto's. It was orange and had an obnoxious swirl on the middle of it, and on top of everything else it was tattered, and empty apart from a few scraps of, blank, paper.

'If there's nothing in it he wont need it anytime soon… I guess I'll have to take this to him eventually. What a drag, why can't people just remember to take their stuff with them?' Sighing heavily, he opened he door to the building and began to climb the (many) stairs to Sakura's apartment.

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Writing for Shikamaru is difficult...you don't want to make him seem too moody or too apathetic...what a drag

Oh and he sighs alot too..


	7. Shikamaru: Such a pain

I don't claim Naruto, so I have no need to disclaim it.

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Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 6:30pm, The Haruno apartment

Why the top floor? Why did she have to live on the top floor? Didn't she know how much of a drag that was for someone who was, say, bringing her lost phone back to her?

Women… so troublesome

Praying that her parents wouldn't answer (girls' parents could be such a pain when a teenage boy shows up looking for them, especially dads. They were the worst. At least a girl's mom would either ignore you or tease you, dad's just assumed you were after one thing.)

He knocked once on the door before it was opened. Sakura was standing opposite him; ready to go out somewhere it seemed. Her normal school uniform was replaced with a sparkling red dress, her face highlighted in exactly the right areas with exactly the right amount of make up and her hair? Completely straight and shining, not tied up; perfect in every way.

"Oh! Shikamaru!" she beamed at him (he as glad the dark hall outside her apartment hid the burning blush on his face) "What is it?"

"Oh, you left your phone in class today so I thought I'd bring you it on my way home" He told her, regaining his cool and fighting off the blush. "Well, sorry it took so long, I had some stuff to do after school and then I tried phoning the home number to let someone know, but no one answered."

He handed her the phone and she beamed at him again.

"Thanks so much! You could just have given me it tomorrow Shika"

'_Shika? She must be in a good mood. Well, whatever, might as well get this over with now…' _

"Why does it have mud on it?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Oh yeah" Shikamaru said "Naruto was outside, he ran into me, literally. We fell over and your phone fell out of my pocket. Sorry about that, I guess." He turned and began to walk down the hall

That reminded him… "Hey, you got a message or something earlier. I didn't look at it or anything. It rung for a while then stopped."

She pushed a few buttons on her phone – "it's a text" she said without looking up – after reading the text she sighed.

"Wait… Shikamaru" she said, smiling. Damn, it was one of those 'I-want-something-from-you' smiles.

"Yeah?" he asked, bracing himself for the answer

"I was going to my friend's party and well… I was supposed to meet up with her outside of her family's flower shop… but I just got a message from my OTHER friend to say that he couldn't walk there with me like he said he would and well… would you walk there with me?"

Shikamaru pondered the thought, escort some girl to another girl so that they could leave and go to a party without him. He could easily get a taxi home from the flower shop. He roughly knew where it was… and it was closer to his house than where he was now… and the rain WAS getting heavier… he made the logical decision, he would walk with her.

He shrugged "Sure, as long as I don't have to talk to anyone"

She smiled brightly "Of course! You wont have to say a thing!"

She grabbed the umbrella that she had sat down as she opened the door and linked arms with him, causing the blush he had fought off to return.

"How long will this take?" he asked her

"About 5 minutes tops" she smiled

The rain was beginning to dwindle as they walked through the streets, Sakura holding the umbrella above Shikamaru's taller body. Despite his protests; "I have a hood" just didn't seem to persuade her to keep the umbrella to herself.

They talked about all manner of things, albeit they were mostly conversations struck up by Sakura, Shikamaru was happy to walk quietly in the rain but Sakura continued to talk to him, not even at him (he couldn't help but answer, there was just something about her).

"So who are you taking to the dance Shikamaru?" she smiled up at him

"What do you mean?" he asked

"You can't go alone to the end of year dance, right?"

"That's not quite what I meant" he told her "What dance?"

"The end of year dance, I just said that" she said, apparently angry that he needed to ask the question at all.

"Uh, I dunno" he said, _'why is she talking to me about this?'_

"Ah, don't have anyone in mind yet? Me either" she sighed "Well actually there is this one person

"Hm? Who" he asked, heart beginning to quicken

"HEY! There she is!"

"It's a girl!?" he spluttered

"No! No!" she told him "There's my friend over there!"

She pointed to a girl standing against a wall with her own umbrella. She had a blonde ponytail and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a purple outfit with black stripes around it. She came running over to Sakura, embracing her in a hug

"Ino, this is Shikamaru"

"Hi!" Ino smiled at him.

Shikamaru was truly glad Sakura had told him he didn't need to say anything because, for once in his life, he was completely speechless.

* * *

A/N: Wow, I actually enjoyed writing that Chapter but there's nothing more I have to say about it really. R&R?

Neji hasn't gotten much page time (screen time, except on a page) so I'll focus on him next, he's the only character's plot I have fully worked out.


	8. Neji: Down in the dumps

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Note: this chapter is set just before chapters 5, 6 and 7

* * *

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, **6:15**pm, Hyuga household.

Neji's day had been terrible.

Normally discovering he had feelings for a girl in the year below him, getting into a fight with some goth kid at school_ (on the plus side Neji had come out better off in the fight) _and then missing the bus home would add up to being a good competitor for the 'worst day in history' award. However, coupled with the fact that his girlfriend had dumped him (she didn't even know about his feelings for Sakura) with only "it's not you, it's me" to comfort him, this was without a doubt the out and out winner of the worst day in history award.

What did Shino Abarame have that he didn't? A questionable hairstyle and sunglasses, that's all!

'_Well, that and Ten Ten' _

Neji shook the thought from his mind would not let this get to him! He was not going to get all upset and cry his eyes out over a bucket of ice-cream, that was for losers and he was a winner. That's why his plan was made for winners, he was going to go out and get _so_ drunk that come morning, it would take him over ten minutes to remember who he was and why he was in such a terrible condition. Hey, he might even have a new girlfriend by that time. He really was such a genius when it came to these things.

He turned on his (awesome and state of the art) computer and decided to see if anyone he knew was online. There was no one online he would go out drinking with - well, there was Lee, he _could _ask him. But that was probably a bad idea; Lee didn't handle alcohol well at all, and that was putting it lightly.

Just as hope of a night out was rapidly vanishing Neji suddenly remembered something he had received last week; an invitation… to a party, from one of Hinata and his' friends Kiba Inuzuka. The kid looked like a dog, and even acted like one too, but he was actually a good source of conversation and a self proclaimed expert at "getting the girls" and, although Neji had warned him from touching his cousin in the past, Kiba had always been there for Hinata if she had needed him.

The party wasn't going to start for about half an hour so Neji had plenty of time to phone Kiba and say he was going with him, Kiba would probably even offer to come and get Neji before going. Hopefully he would soon forget all about Ten Ten.

Fresh out of the shower Neji picked up his phone, 6:25, another twenty minutes.

He hit dial to phone Kiba and was quickly answered

"Yuh huh" Said the boy

"That's an answer to a question Kiba, not a greeting" Neji said

"HEY! NEJI! I was just gettin' ready to go to that party you can't go to pal"

"Actually, I can come to the party tonight"

"Haha! Great! I thought you were supposed to be going out with Ten Ten tonight? Did the ol' ball an' chain let you off the hook?"

"Actually she dumped me…" Neji said

"Oh… uh… well that sucks…" Kiba stuttered "Uhmm… well plenty more fish in the sea right? Listen, I gotta go get ready, I'll swing by your place and walk to the party with you from there. I just need to let this girl know I can't walk with her."

"Yeah, cool, see you in what, ten minutes?"

"Make it fifteen" came the reply "We'll be fashionably late, see you soon."

Kiba hung up before the 'goodbye' was even out of Neji's mouth.

* * *

A/N: Short chapter, I know, sorry…

So there you have it. The person that was supposed to walk with Sakura to the party in chapter 7 was Kiba!

I tried to make Neji seem slightly overconfident and guy-ish?

Next chapter should have some NejiSaku moments in it, hopefully

_**Author's Joke: "He would soon forget all about Ten Ten." Hey, look! Neji is just like Kishimoto!**_


	9. Naruto and Sasuke: Party Goers

Disclaimer; I don't own Naruto (why must you rub it in Kishimoto!?)

* * *

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 6:30pm, Uchiha household.

Sasuke stood on the inside side of his front door – looking at the soaking blond boy across from him.

"A party? You came all this way to ask if I wanted 'to come to a party, maybe'?" he asked, changing his voice to be high pitched and girly to imitate his friend.

"Hey! I don't sound anything like that!" Naruto yelled, still outside in the rain

"Whatever… is that all you wanted?"

"I wanted to spend time with my _friend _you miserable bast-!"

"Naruto keep your voice down!" snapped Sasuke "I don't mind you talking, just keep it down to a dull roar, ok?"

Naruto pouted and looked up at Sasuke "Come on… it'll be fun, there'll be alcohol…"

Sasuke rolled his eyes "Fine, I'll go, but only to look after your stupid self, you and alcohol shouldn't mix. Ever."

"Alright!" the blond roared out "Let's go to that party!"

Sasuke whacked him on the back of the head, "I dread to ask, but….Where is this party…?"

"About 40 minutes that-a-way"

Sasuke visibly gritted his teeth "I'll go and see if we can get a lift from Itachi"

Naruto grinned at him - highly proud of his ability to piss Sasuke off in 0.6 seconds flat; that had to be a new world record for pissing someone off, right?

Itachi had a nice car. Naruto had to admit. It was black all over, the seats were soft and bouncy and soaked up spilled soda really well, like a giant sponge really. He made a mental note to never mention spilling the soda in the car to either of the Uchiha brothers. They were wealthy enough to make sure he "disappeared" and remained unfound.

Unfortunately though, Sasuke never subsumed to Naruto bribes

("Come on! Just get a hit put out on that guy over there; I'll be your best friend"

"You already are my best friend, idiot.").

Itachi's car really was something all right – maybe he worked for the CIA?

Naruto really wished he had been able to share this theory with Sasuke, but he had chosen to sit in front with his brother; leaving his _best friend_ all alone in the back. 'When you think about it like that the soda spill is _basically_ justified.'

Sasuke sat in the seat beside his brother. He hadn't chosen to sit up front to get away from Naruto; it was really that he didn't want to go through Itachi's usual 'No Drink, No Drugs, No Sex' talks again. If there wasn't an audience then Itachi wouldn't attempt to embarrass him in such a way… though he did indeed have other ways of embarrassing him without an audience present.

"So little brother" he asked, slightly looking in Sasuke's direction

"yeah?"

Itachi paused, mulling over the things he could say in his head. He settle on the one he knew would get a reaction, it always did.

"Is this your first date with Naruto?"

Sasuke coughed and spluttered. He _couldn't_ be hearing this right.

"WHAT?!?" he managed to splutter out

"You and Naruto, is this your first date together as boyfriends?"

"No! We're not, I mean I'm not… I dunno of he is… we've never, but … he won't and I don't…Look, just shut up!"

Itachi was beginning to smile and after a while he actually laughed out loud. The reaction was priceless, but he wouldn't be able to make Sasuke think he was serious anymore. He would have liked to mess with his little brother's head for a few days but the minute he smiled the fun was all gone.

'Oh well, it was good while it lasted'

"Here we are" said Itachi "You're boyfriend, I mean friend who is a boy, _obviously_, told me where it was. Just under a mile from our house, you can make your own way home I'm sure."

Sasuke got out of the car, still red faced from Itachi's accusations, and opened Naruto's door

"Out."

"Goodbye Naruto" said Itachi "Please don't take advantage of him, and Sasuke; don't do anything I wouldn't do"

"Bye Itachi!" yelled/waved Naruto "Man Sasuke, your brother is nice. What did he mean by 'take advantage' of you?"

"Shut up, moron" said Sasuke "let's just go in and find somewhere to sit down. It's freezing out here."

* * *

A/N: I finally have the entire plot worked out for this story. It's still farily early on too if you were wondering!

So Sasuke, Naruto and Neji are at this party. But what of Shikamaru? Tune in next time to see.

Mock exams mean I don't have time to write - hence the lateness of this chapter. Sorry.


	10. Shikamaru: Arrival

Disclaimer; You know the rest. But you don't own it.

* * *

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 6:30pm, outside

The rain had begun to go off, although the cold temperature lingered in the air as is usually the case, and Shikamaru found himself wondering how exactly he had been forced into accompanying Sakura and this 'Ino' girl to a party being held by some guys he hardly knew. Without saying much, unless spoken to directly, he listened in to the conversation between the two girls.

"So who's party is this again Sakura?" asked Ino, visually trying to remember by rotating her hands in the air "Sa… Sako…… well it was Sa something, and Ukun? No… wait Ukon, right? Oh! Sakon and Ukon!"

Sakura smiled at her and nodded "Yep, Sakon and Ukon from the year above us, me and Shika' are in the same year, by the way."

Ino looked right at Shikamaru "YOU'RE the same age as US!?"

Cringing at the volume in her voice Shikamaru shut his eyes

"What did you have to go and do that for, people could be sleeping and it'll be a drag for them if some girl wakes them up. Oh and yeah I'm your age."

Ino smugly smiled "Hah! Who would be asleep at 6:30pm on a Monday night?"

Sakura sighed; Ino had no way of knowing how smart Shikamaru was… her friend didn't know what she was up against. A sarcastic, lazy and bored genius. Something was off though… it would usually be "too troublesome" to argue with someone, especially a girl like Ino. Sakura shrugged it off, Shikamaru might just feel the need to kill some time.

"People"

"Yeah but _which _people?"

"Working people"

"Shouldn't they be at work?"

"I _mean_ people that work night shifts."

"Oh. Right…" Finished Ino "So you're really our age? You just look a bit older is all."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow slightly

"No! Not in a bad way, just by like a year or even a few months. You look good! No I mean nice! No I me--"

"**_We're here_**!" Sakura said loudly, trying to save her friend from herself.

Ino whistled "Sakon and Ukon… these guys have a big house. What did they do? Rob a bank?"

"It's their grandfather's house actually." Sakura announced "He's out of town for a few days so they have the house to themselves."

"Their grand-pappy must be Yankee' Rich!" Ino asked "What's he do? Rob banks?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. The way this girl talked both exasperate and amused him.

"Don't be silly Ino, he runs a chain of music stores." Sakura continued

"Which one is it!? Which one!?" Ino asked, eyes sparkling, obviously hoping to be in the house of a 'famous' businessman.

"DokiDoki… There's one in town, Sasuke works there" Shikamaru sighed "Guy's name is Orochimaru, not to sure on the surname though. Guess he doesn't share the surname of his grandkids… Either way, let's go. It's such a drag standing out here in the cold"

Listening to Ino's protests about how he wasn't even invited so he shouldn't be telling them when and where to go Shikamaru walked inside.

'Women... so troublesome.'

* * *

A/N: Dunno if I like the chapter? Mock Exams are finished so I'll be writing more frequently. 


	11. Neji: Fate

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but then again. Neither do you. Unless you're Kishi Senior In which case "Hi!"... or if you're Kishi Junior - "I love 666 Satan!"

* * *

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 6:50**pm** Inside "The Fang" 

Kiba Inuzuka was perhaps the ONLY person in the whole world to name their car "The Fang" and was perhaps the ONLY person in the world who would take his puppy to a party and was definitely the ONLY person who would hit a speed bump full throttle, bumped off the ground, land in an acceptable parking position and utter the words "Yahoo Akamaru! That was awesome!"

Neji kicked open the door and got out – allowing the music to blare out from inside the car, not that it couldn't be heard if the doors had been closed – it was at 100 volume after all.

Animals by Nickleback boomed across the fancy streets as Kiba lazily turned the key and got out of the car himself, Akamaru followed his lead.

"Remind me NEVER to drive with you again Kiba

Kiba gave him a toothy grin "Not my fault the streets were so empty is it? I'm a victim of circumstance, you know."

Neji sighed "Whatever, I'll be inside drowning my sorrows."

"Wahhh wahhhh" Kiba mocked as he followed after the Hyuga boy. "I'm goin' to go drown my sorrows in my designer clothes with my sleek hair and perfect skin."

Neji halted and shot him a steely glare, Kiba stopped moving too.

"Ahh… sorry man… just trying to say that just cause ol' Tenny left you; it isn't the end of the world is it? I mean plenty more bones in the yard aint there?"

Neji renewed the glare and continued walking on, Kiba following again, silently cursing Neji – he disliked him when he was in a mood like this. As soon as he hit the party he' find his own prey for the evening… but then he'd feel guilty... he didn't want anyone else but Hinata… and Neji would kill him if he even looked at her.

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 6:55**pm **'The' Party.

After being inside the house for a mere matter of minutes Neji had already made very good friends with a small army of alcohol units, well it was more of a regiment to be honest, and he wasn't even fully feeling the effects just yet.

That's when he saw here. Like a summer breeze. Sakura Haruno. Beauty incarnate, his muse, his one true love, his guardian angel… ok maybe he was feeling the alcohol's effects a little.

Neji's mind suddenly clicked. Suddenly everything made sense to him!

TenTen left him because she was **supposed **to leave him. It was fate. Her leaving him was the catalyst causing him to get together with his real true love. It was so clear now! 'Yeah.. clear and vodka flavoured' a voice at the back of his head muttered

"Shut up you" Neji said aloud; suddenly realising he was directly across from a young brown haired girl who's name was neither known or important to him.

She smiled at him and he returned the favour.

"Drink?" he said offering her his (alcohol loaded) cup

The path to true love was definitely going to be a long one; this was just one of the many pit stops on the road.

'Sakura Haruno will definitely be mine!' Neji thought while finding himself enwrapped in a thorough kissing session with the girl he had met only minutes ago.

* * *

A/N: Sasuke chapter next! Followed by a Naruto chapter. R R? 


	12. Sasuke: Time Flies

**Disclaimer:** I was neither born nor raised in west Philadelphia. I am not the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and I do not own Naruto either.

* * *

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 7:00pm, 'The' Party 

He hadn't planned on losing Naruto in the crowd, but doing so did have some advantages. For instance, not once in the last quarter of an hour had Sasuke been told to 'believe it', which had to be a new record.

The party was beginning to get crowded even at such a relatively early hour so finding Naruto wouldn't be easy, the best thing to do was to hang out with someone he knew until he accidentally bumped into Naruto.

So the problem wasn't finding Naruto, it was who he would hang out with. There was Tayuya, but she would be with her close friends and, although they liked Sasuke, it was universally felt that it was for the better if Sasuke didn't hang out with them too often. Too many fights had taken place between his 'friends' and Tayuya friends. Then there was Temari. She might be with her brother Kankuro's, but it was likely he was off getting drunk with someone else. Gaara wouldn't be there, he despised social situations.

After forcing himself through the crowd and past a pair of girls making out on the sofa (maybe it was Neji Hyuga and a girl, who knows?) he began to look for Temari. It wasn't long before he found her either. She was sitting in the garden with an unfinished alcohol bottle sitting next to her. Sasuke sat down next to her as she smiled and gave him a short nod.

"Hey" he said to her

"Hiiiii Sasukeeee" she sang to him. Great. She was wasted. What he hadn't been able to see was the small army of _empty_ bottles sitting on the grass next to her.

"You're… pretty drunk, aren't you?"

"Noooo, no no no no no. Well. Uh… I'm maybe yeah, a little bit. I was sharing some with the delightful Tayuya." She managed to say with a faltering smile "she's niiiiice"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Temari became visibly more upset. Given that she was very, very, drunk he might regret his question.

"What's the matter, Temari?" he asked her

"Nothing!" she objected, trying to fake a smile

"Well… It's not like you to look so down; usually you get angry when something upsets you. So what is it? You're brother acting the way he used to?"

She sighed. "No no, its nothing like that… it's just… "

Sasuke prepared himself for the worst.

"I DON'T HAVE A BOYFRIEND!" she cried out.

Sasuke was taken aback. Temari wasn't the type to get upset over this sort of thing… she got upset over Gaara's mental state or her grandmother's health. Nothing so trivial as a boyfriend.

"Uh… so?" he said "I've never had one"

Temari let out a laugh "You've never had a boyfriend? But I though you and Uzumaki had a thing going on?"

"No! Wait! I meant girlfriend, _girlfriend_! And there's nothing between me and Naruto!"

Temari looked back at him "Yeah but I've only ever had _one_ boyfriend, you know?"

Sasuke thought about his own situation. Temari was upset because she only ever had one boyfriend, but he had never even had one girlfriend. He'd never even thought about it.

"So, you've only had one boyfriend… big deal… You'll get another boyfriend sooner or later."

She smiledin response.

"Anyone in mind then?" he asked her, in an effort to continue improving her mood

"That's not something you should ask a lady!" she said while pretending to be offended "So what about _you_, Ice Princess, got anyone in mind?"

Sasuke honestly hadn't thought about it. He really paid no attention to relationships past friends. Maybe he _should_ have a girlfriend; he was nearing 16 years old, after all.

The conversation between them continued for a while and it spanned over several topics, siblings, school, work; the usual stuff really. After the talking had died down an oddly comfortable silence was established; soon though a voice interrupted the silence.

"Um, Excuse me?"

The voice belonged to Sakura Haruno. She had a slight blush on her face from seeing Sasuke sitting so close to Temari (wow, he was sitting pretty close), she must have gotten the wrong Idea.

"Sakura? What is it? Wanna drink? " Temari asked her, offering her a fresh bottle.

"No thanks… it's just, have you seen Ino anywhere? I left her with Shikamaru for a while and I can't find her."

Temari let out a short giggle "Heehee, you left a girl like Yamanaka with a guy like Nara? I'm sure both of them will have there own way to pay you back later."

Temari continued giggling, obviously finding the idea of Shikamaru and this Yamanaka girl hilarious. The giggling died down shortly and Temari seemed to be out of breath from laughing (Sasuke thought it was pretty cute, must have been the drink talking, had he really drank that much?).

Sakura shook her head "I know, that's why I'm looking for them."

Temari smirked again "Unless they've killed each other already." She put her finger to her chin to indicate that she was thinking "I wonder how they'd do it? Nara would cut her up into tiny pieces and make her bones into shogi pieces I bet. Hah!"

Sasuke checked his watch. It was already **8:30**. Had he spent all that time talking to Temari? What was Naruto getting up to?

He stood up "Listen, Temari, Sakura, I have to go and find Naruto. I don't want him to be too drunk."

"Oh!" said Sakura "He's upstairs somewhere. He isn't drunk though, I was just talking to him a minute ago."

"Alright, thanks. See ya later." He told them both

As he walked into the house he took a last look back at Sakura. She _did_ look nice, notably so, and he _did_ need a girlfriend. A plan was begging to form itself in the young Uchiha's head – but it could wait. He wouldn't have a problem getting Sakura to be his girlfriend, no offence to her, but there wasn't a lot of competition. Right?

* * *

**A/N:** Ok sorry if Sasuke came off to be a bit of an ass at the end there. He will make up for it later, believe it! (I love that catchphrase… I know it's annoying but I can't help it!) So yeah. 

Next chapter is what happened when Sakura was with Naruto

After that shows what Shikamaru and Ino are doing.

Drunk people are hard to write :( .

R&R


	13. Naruto: Understanding

Disclaimer: You know the rest

* * *

Monday **8****­****th** October, 8:15pm, Party 

Naruto hadn't had a drop to drink all night. Why? Because he was busy talking to Sakura, that's why!

She was upset, and at first he had focused on cheering her up; reminiscing about old times between Sakura Sasuke and himself, talking to her about her favourite movies and bands, just things to make her smile. He loved it when she smiled but it always left a sad feeling in his stomach when her smiles were insincere; sort of like a bad bowl of ramen, only worse.

He wondered if she thought he was too stupid to notice, not perceptive enough, or whether she just wanted to forget about it.

Right now; she was smiling with a balance of sincerity and insincerity. The sad feeling was there. He didn't know why she was upset but she was sitting on the edge of the bed with him trying to avoid the issue.

"Hey… Sakura… Are you feeling ok?" he asked her in a surprisingly serious tone. Surprising considering the source that is.

She faked a smile; "I'm fine Naruto"

'Liar'

Was he the only one who could see it? Sakura had been acting strange for over a month. She wasn't eating much at school. She wasn't doing her work and she was late for class. She was constantly on her phone which wasn't like her _and_ she wasn't drinking or socialising, it was as if this party was just a way for her to escape from something and it clearly wasn't working.

He_couldn't _be the only one who had noticed it.

'Shikamaru must have… but then again he's not too good with emotions or girls… Sasuke is essentially emotionally retarded… '

Maybe he was the only one who noticed it? Well, be that as it may, that just meant he was the only one who could help!

It might be considered butting into peoples private matters by he absolutely_hated_ seeing Sakura like this. He wanted to grab whatever was causing her this pain and beat the living hell out of it before ripping it to shreds.

He sat in silence racking his brain trying to work out what was wrong with her. Misery loves company, and from what he could see Sakura could use a whole lot of company.

Monday **8****­****th** October, 6:20pm Sakura's Apartment.

Naruto knocked on the door a heavy three times before entering. He needed to ask Sakura something about that party tonight so he had gotten his uncle Deidara to drop him off and he needed to be quick or he would be walking home.

"I'll give you five minutes. You got that? Five minutes, yeah? Then I'm taking off without you" Deidara has told him.

He walked into Sakura's living room, connected to the hall. It was a small apartment. She lived in it with her dad, she didn't have a lot of family nearby, they all lived abroad. Naruto often envied even her small family. He had an uncle and that was it.

Sakura was sitting on the sofa with her head in her hands, obviously crying.

Naruto was infront of her in a shot.

"What is it Sakura!?"

"N-N-Naruto? How… how did you get in?"

"I opened the door, no what's wrong!? Did somebody hurt you!"?

"No…. It's just some family stuff" she smiled, wiping away the tears "Nothing important, anyway."

"I need to go and put on my shoes, wait here" she said as she stood up

Naruto's jaw nearly dropped. She looked amazing. She was covered in a sparkling red dress, her face highlighted in exactly the right areas with exactly the right amount of make up and her hair was completely straight and shining, not tied up; perfect in every way.

"Wow… Sakura… you look beautiful!" he blurted out "I'm just going to that party in these clothes…" he said, indicating his clothes which were far from the high standard of Sakura's clothes

"Oh!" he yelled out "I need to ask you something!"

"Can it wait? I need to get my shoes on, Kiba will be here to pick me up soon"

She walked into her room and closed the door. Naruto scanned the house, he came in here often but hadn't dropped by in over a month.

He picked up some medication bottles from the floor and set them on the table, next to a picture of Sakura and her Father.

That reminded him, where _was_ her dad? He was always home at 6pm on the dot on Mondays. Naruto usually enjoyed his stories about a younger Sakura; it was a bonus that Mr Haruno had a certain fondness for Naruto (He once said Sakura could "do a lot worse" than Naruto… though he might have misunderstood the relationship between his daughter and her friend.)

He noticed a lot of tissue papers in the bin and shrugged it off. It wasn't like Sakura to not empty her rubbish bins before they were even half full.

A few minutes passed and Sakura came back out. She still looked gorgeous too.

"What was it you wanted to ask me?" she said to him.

"Oh... Uh... I forget…" he said, scratching his head "I guess it doesn't matter, it was nice to see you anyway Sakura, tell your dad I said hi next time you see him!"

Sakura let out a small laugh. Glad that she looked happy now Naruto set off towards the door with a small hug and a 'Naruto Uzumaki Smile' as a parting gift.

What he didn't see was the small pang of sadness when her father was mentioned.

Monday **8****­****th** October, 8:25pm, Party

'It all makes sense now!' thought Naruto as his eyes widened and he turned too look at Sakura. This could be painful, but he had to help her.

"What's wrong with your dad Sakura?" he said without a trace of his usual happy go lucky self, he was seriously concerned.

Sakura was stunned, she turned too look at him - her eyes already glimmering with tears.

"…how did you know?" she asked quietly

"You've been acting a bit off lately. You're dad's medication wasn't touched and he wasn't home tonight. Tell me Sakura. I need too know, I want to help you"

He smiled at her. Not an 'Uzumaki Smile' but a real smile.

"He… he's in hospital…" she said "He had… a heart attack"

She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, her face buried into the side of his neck.

Naruto didn't blush, he didn't panic or make a stupid comment. He was full of concern. He just patted her back as she recounted the story and the facts to him.

Her dad was in the Konoha hospital. A hospital Naruto was relatively familiar with.

He was in a semi-stable condition.

She had been crying because his condition had begun to worsen.

"Sakura… why didn't you tell me?" he asked her "I… I hate seeing you hurt."

Sakura looked up at him. This wasn't the Naruto she was used to. She had seen him act this way only a few times, when he was truly worried.

"I…. I didn't tell anyone… that would make it … too real…you know?" she whispered "He's going to die… I know he is"

"Sakura… he's going to be fine. I know he is" said Naruto "I know because the universe wouldn't do something so harsh to you… you're just too nice.

Your dad will be fine. You will be fine. Everything will be fine, Believe it!"

The Uzumaki Smile was in full swing accompanied by a full on thumbs up and Sakura couldn't help but smile too. She didn't know why but Naruto had a way of making people feel better. All because of him she was ready to face up to the situation her dad was in.

He was going to be fine, she believed that completely. She stood up and dried her face.

"Thanks Naruto… He'll be fine. I'm going to visit the hospital to see if he is getting any better." She check her watch; she could still catch visiting hours before 10pm.

She hugged Naruto again and flashed him a genuine smile as she breezed past him and too the door. She turned around "Thanks again"

The door popped back open and she stuck her head into the room "You can go and drink now by the way. Oh, please keep what I told you a secret" She stuck her tongue out at him after he nodded then she left again.

Naruto really did love it when was Sakura was happy.

* * *

**A/N:** Longest Chapter, incase you were counting. 

Exploring some NaruSaku SasuSaku NejiSaku ShikaSaku moments in the near future. Yay

Also... theres a badly written part in chapter 12. Need to fix it tommorow.

R&Rs are always a pleasure.


	14. Shikamaru: Realisation and Wonder

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 8:00pm, The Party

* * *

Whether it was Ino's constant questions and conversation or the loud music inside Shikamaru had decided to venture outside of the party to the front garden.

Away from the loud music he had finally managed to get two minutes to himself. Well, almost; Ino had tagged along with him because, she said "All this fun is troublesome". The insult was not lost on Shikamaru.

"Getting' cold" said Ino in her best 'small talk' voice.

"Hn" Shikamaru said as he crossed his arms.

"Oh well, at least the rain's gone off"

"Hn" Shikamaru said aloud while inwardly screaming at her to take the hint.

She went silent for a period of time and turned her whole body around to look at him.

"Say, Shikamaru…" she began obviously thinking something over in her head "…you're last name is Nara, right?"

"Right." He said

"I knew it." She smiled at him "My dad knows _your_ dad."

"And?" he sighed

"'And' what?" Ino snapped at him

"And…. Big deal? Our dad's know each other – so what?"

"Never mind." She snapped at him for a second time "You're so clueless Shikamaru"

She crossed her arms just as he had done and they both stared up at the sky.

A lot of clouds were hanging in the air and the rain was beinging to drizzle down yet again. Shikamaru hated rain when it behaved like this. Why couldn't it just stay raining or not rain?

'On and off again showers of rain are so trouble-'

"Why do you have a crush on Sakura?" Ino said, her voice piercing Shikamaru's thoughts. He choked as he heard the words and sat upright.

"What are you talking about?" he said, glad that his usual uninterested tone still remained in his voice, but he was very much interested.

"Well…" she trailed off "…it's just that she's so not boring… while you are. So boring I mean."

"No I don't like her" he answered

"That wasn't the question" she said, sticking her tounge out at him "_Why_ do you have a crush on her?"

'So' Shiakamru thought 'Let's pretend she's right. The reason I feel so weird around Sakura is because I have a crush on her? That seems totally untrue… but it _would_ explain why I came to this party when she asked. Why though? Why do I have a crush on Sakura?

Inwardly vowing to investigate this he decided it was best to satisfy Ino with an untrue answer.

"I don't" he said "Having a crush on someone would be troublesome, a pain in the neck _and_ a drag. Why would I have a crush on anyone?"

"Because you're a guy" she said "Guys get crushes on people, not always girls either."

"You don't say" he sighed, he was sighing a lot tonight.

"Yeah, I bet it's because you're Sakura's lab partner and she's like just as smart as you are in science. You like her because she's smart. Case closed. Goodbye, the end."

"Yeah just like I thought" he said "You don't have any actual evidence, you're just assuming to make me get annoyed. Nice try, really.

"Who needs evidence when its so obvious. Besides, somebody told me. That wasn't the only thing they told me either" She said, smiling.

Shikamaru's heart skipped a beat. Someone had 'told' her? If that was the case then he had to find out who told Ino so that he could find out why they thought he had a crush on Sakura. This was already becoming such a drag.

"Who told you that then? And what did they tell you" he asked, it was a long shot but he thought he might as well try.

Ino looked like she was about to answer when a voice cut her off.

"Who told you what?" Sakura asked

"Oh… nothing" Ino said "Where've you been, Sakura?"

"I was talking to Naruto about something. Nothing important though. Only, I really have to go now, are you two ok making your own way home?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine" Ino answered for both her and Shikamaru.

Sakura hugged Ino, smiled at Shikamaru and left, apparently walking home.

Ino stood up, calling after Sakura. Apparently they were both going to walk home together.

Before she caught up with her friend Ino turned to look at Shikamaru

"I wont say anything" she said "until you have it all figured out in that noggin' o' yours, so don't worry."

She flashed him a quick smile and was gone.

He looked at his watch. It was getting Late. Everyone around him seemed drunk. Maybe it was best if he made his own way home too. The only reason he was here was because Sakura was coming… or was that the only reason?

Maybe tomorrow he could find out who had told Ino what exactly they had told her. No matter what happened tomorrow; the quest to find out why he liked Sakura had begun.

* * *

A/N: I decided to go with a Shikamaru sub plot where he tries to find out why he likes Sakura, to add a slight bit of variety.

That's it for the party; the next chapters take place the day after, in School. Everyone finds out about the dance etc, so the plot will really start to take off. Basically; everything up until now has been setting up the plot


	15. Naruto: Early to rise

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… in THIS universe anyway.

* * *

A/N: this is the shortest chapter to date. Sorry. It was part of the next chapter, but it didn't flow too well to have them together. As an apology the next chapter will be full of SasuSaku goodness and ill try for the longest chapter so far. Look forward to it SasuSaku fans!

* * *

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 8:00am, School. 

Naruto Uzumaki had turned up early for school, what a shocking occasion, something to write home about, a once in a lifetime occurrence! Had hell frozen over?

Not exactly; you see, Deidara had flung him out of the house to give him and Sasori some 'alone time'. Having no where to go at 7am in the morning Naruto had shown up to school early, hanging around for an hour before he had to go to morning registration in Ibiki's classroom.

So there he sat. First in the class, watching who else walked in.

Kiba walked in with Hinata and Shino, nothing unusual there.

Gaara walked in, giving Naruto a nod and sitting down alone.

Shikamaru walked in stifling a yawn, followed by Chouji who was stuffing his face with early morning snacks.

Finally, Dosu Kin and Zaku had come in, verbally arguing with each other.

No sign of Sasuke though.

Sasuke wasn't the top of Naruto's list of worries, Sakura was. She had just come in and he couldn't tell if she was upset or not.

"Hey! Sakura! Up here!" he yelled "C'mere, I need to talk to you!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. Did Naruto have _no tact_ whatsoever?

She sat down in the chair next to him and smiled.

"Yes Naruto?"

"How is he? Your dad, I mean?"

Her smile didn't wane at all - "You were right!" she said "I wasn't there for long but he was improving. He might even be out of the hospital soon!"

As he went to tell Sakura just how happy he was for her, he was gonna throw in a few 'believe it's too, just to really hammer the point home. Anyway, he was _going_ to tell her, until he laid eyes on the sorry sight which was slowly lurching its way into the classroom. Apparently Sasuke had drunk way too much last night because he was standing in the classroom doorway and he looked like death.

"OI! SASUKE!!!" Naruto shouted at him

* * *

**A/N: **As I said, short chapter but the next chapter will be extra long, and full of SasuSaku goodness (and more!)

Oh! go and read my bio if you're bored D


	16. Sasuke: Love Sick

**Disclaimer:** There is no spoon.

* * *

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 8:05am, School. 

Using the desks as support, Sasuke slowly began to inch towards his seat; his precious seat - it would make him feel better – no question. He had already seen Naruto sitting at his desk, wasn't it a little early for him to show up? Either way, Naruto was sure to respect how awful Sasuke was feeling – they both had an equal amount to drink after all.

'Ok, remain calm…' he thought rapidly 'All I have to do is sit down and I'll be fine. I can sleep for, like, five minutes before classes start… then I'll feel better, just a few more ste-'

"OI! SASUKE!!!" Naruto hollered at him "YOU LOOK LIKE DEA-"

"I'm right next to you. Shut it." He replied, too ill for an insult.

Naruto looked up at him; even Sasuke's pale skin was now a shade of white not yet discovered by man or science. There was no way this was a hangover, Sasuke had

"The flu" said Sakura from behind Naruto who was currently sulking after being told 'shut it' – he was just showing his concern, after all.

Sasuke looked up at her, his head now resting flatly on his desk.

He turned his face in the opposite direction. "I amht hmnve dhn flu"

Sakura sighed "Don't mumble. So, what were you saying?"

Sasuke turned around and looked at her and got ready to repeat himself, wait…since when did _she_ criticise _him _– she had certainly changed since Sasuke had first been forced to be friends with her – students in their first year were put in groups with a teacher as a group leader, he had the misfortune of getting grouped with Kakashi Hatake who was never on time for anything, the most annoying whiny little girl in his class and Sakura – man he wished he'd said that out loud, but every time he opened his mouth he risked being sick.

Anyway, he was getting off track. Sakura had really changed since he met her; she used to have incredibly long pink hair, which was now short, she used to wear a dress… thing… now she wore shorts and a t shirt and leather gloves. She was much more likeable now that she didn't squeal his name every two seconds.

"Uh Sasuke…. Are you still alive?" Naruto asked "You've been quiet for like… hours."

"It's been seconds Naruto" Sakura corrected him "A lot of seconds though… are you ok Sasuke? Shouldn't you go home?"

Suddenly realising his extended silence Sasuke sat up – it didn't make him feel nearly as bad as he was expecting – and looked at her

"I'm fine" he said.

'good Sasuke… keep it to short sentences...'

"Sasuke, having the flu takes it out of a lot of people… maybe you should go home?" Sakura asked. It was more like _told_ – but she was only doing so because she cared.

In reality he _couldn't_ go home because he had a music exam last period, and there would be no further chance to sit it. There was no way he was going to fail. Uchiha's don't fail. Sakura would never accept this as a reason so he just told her the next best thing, what he had tried to tell her earlier when she wasn't listening well enough.

"I don't have the flu" he said – feeling better as soon as he said it "It's just a hangover, that's all."

Naruto looked up "I had the same amount as you to drink, I'm fine"

Sasuke glared at him "It's not my fault you're some kind of-"

Uh oh, here it comes… he was going to be sick, no doubt.

He got up from his seat and walked quickly (Uchiha are too cool to run) to the door

"Naruto take my stuff to my next class."

"Yes sire" Naruto said with a bow and a roll of his eyes. Out of the corner of his eyes Sasuke swore he could see Sakura laughing. It had to be the hangover talking; no way would she laugh at that dumb-ass' idiotic jokes.

'It's not a hangover' he thought to himself 'You have the flu'

He finally rushed into the bathroom, just in the nick of time.

5 minutes later he walked out of the bathroom, feeling slightly better. He was turning the corner as he came face to face with Suigetsu who was standing, eating an open packet of salt and vinegar pretzels – they smelled so bad Sasuke had to spin round and run back to be sick again.

"So, what's the matter with you?" Suigetsu asked from behind

"I'm _trying_ to be sick here, Suigetsu" Sasuke spluttered – pride was not a factor right now – even if Sasuke had the strength to pretend he was fine Suigetsu had already seen that he really wasn't fine, at all.

Suigetsu smirked and slowly took a bite of another pretzel "You look like you're doing a damn bit more than _'trying' _to me, Sasuke. Want me to hold your hair back?"

"Fuck y-"spluttered Sasuke, interrupted by yet another wave of sickness Suigetsu just continued to eat pretzels

"WOULD YOU STOP EATING THOSE!?"

Although he didn't view Sasuke as a "friend" Suigetsu still had a certain liking for the guy. He through his still quarter full packet into his bag and pulled out a bottle of water each – one for him and one for Sasuke.

He helped Sasuke to his feet and gave him a bottle

"Feeling better?" He smirked, a row of pointy teeth making themselves known.

"Yeah" Sasuke said, physically shaking, leaning on Suigetsu

"Come on, let's go and sit outside – fresh air will do you good."

Sasuke felt like protesting, but the thought of factoring quadratic equations using the quadratic formula as Kakuzu, his non too friendly teacher, barked instructions at him, he kept his mouth shut. Hopefully this would help him feel better.

"I have the flu" he sighed

Suigetsu rolled his eyes; "No shit genius. Anything else you want to say, like the sky is blue? Water is wet? Just sit down and be quiet. I don't even like you, Uchiha"

Sasuke was sat on a step outside the school

"'I don't even like you Uchiha' – because you're girlfriend wants me you mean?"

Suigetsu thumped down next to him "Watch it. I'm not above hitting sick people, Uchiha"

They fell into silence as Sasuke looked off into the distance. Through a window he could see Shikamaru Nara walking beside some blond girl who was talking at, what looked like, an extremely fast pace and gripping onto his arm.

Shikamaru putting up with anyone grabbing hold of him was weird enough, but putting up with a girl doing it was almost impossible.

Sasuke groaned; this flu was even starting to make him hallucinate, great.

* * *

Monday **8****­ ****th** October, 12:50 pm, School. 

Sakura looked up from her textbook to see who it was coming into class.

It was Sasuke, looking slightly better than he had that morning but still looking pretty bad. She wondered how his morning had been – this was the first class he had been in with her all day, apart from maths which he hadn't attended.

He sat down next to her "I'm fine" he said

"No you're not" she told him "So - where were _you _during maths?"

"I was with a friend, couldn't be bothered with maths" he shrugged.

"I missed you" she said with a smile

Sasuke put his head on the desk, partly because he felt sick _again_ but mainly because he had felt a blush moving its way up his neck. There was no way he would blush under normal circumstances, he was just embarrassed to appear so weak to someone who worshipped him so much.

"I missed you too I guess" he said. The blush continued to rise.

She put her book down. "So, you spent last night with Temari?"

She knew he did, why was she asking, and was that_ jealousy _in her voice? She had been blushing when she saw them too close together.

He looked round to her. "Yeah, we were just talking abou-"

Kakashi looked up from his own book, the newest instalment in a series which he followed so passionately. "Ok, guys, the school bell is broken so I'll just let you go and get you're lunch now ok good see you tomorrow bye bye"

"It's five minutes early… and the bell is working" someone called out, but it was too late – Kakashi had left the building before he had even finished his own sentence.

Sakura packed up her own things and looked down at Sasuke who was still in his seat.

"Come on, you can meet Ino at lunch" she smiled at him

The tone of jealousy was gone. He looked up "Who's Ino? A friend from another school?"

"No, actually" Sakura said "She transferred from her school to this school. She knows Shikamaru, he was showing her around the school this morning, now come on, you'll need to eat something to keep your strength up."

She had a good point, he was getting slightly hungry and he only had to last 2 more periods until his exam was over and he was safely home.

He stood up and began to – slowly – walk to the cafeteria with Sakura. His head was throbbing with every step and his eyes were starting to hurt too, not to mention his nose was blocked and his throat made him feel like he had been chewing sandpaper. He took out his bottle of water Suigetsu had given him, it was already empty.

Sakura looked over to him. "I'll get you a bottle when we're in the cafeteria Sasuke. I still think you should go home, though."

The hot feeling in his face returned - it must have been the flu making his face feel that way. It was the only explanation, right? What if he _liked_ her?

He turned away from her so that he could think.

'_No way, there's no reason for me to like Sakura, right? I mean why would I? She's smart, funny, confident, cute, perfect…"_

He shook his head, there was no way he liked her, was there? Could he really be falling for the girl he had essentially ignored for the best part of five years?

He shook his head once more, which wasn't a good idea – already he felt sick again.

Sakura looked up at him "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine" he said. He wasn't. "Go ahead, I'll meet you in the cafeteria" he said as he went off to be sick.

Sakura called after him "Ok, don't disappear though, I have something I need to ask you and Naruto"

Sasuke felt confused - hearing Naruto's name mentioned in that sentence annoyed him for some reason, the sentence would have been better if she only had to ask him something. Was this what jealousy felt like when a girl was involved?

He groaned inwardly as he looked for somewhere to be sick – if it was jealousy and Sakura was involved then he _did_ like her in 'that way'. But he had ignored _her_ advances on _him_ in the past; did that mean he'd blown his chances with her? Judging by the sort of day he was having he knew the answer was most likely going to be "yes".

Finding out he was in love with someone he had already blown it with _and_ having the flu? Someone up there definitely didn't like him.

Or _had_ he blown it with her? She was blushing when she saw he was sitting close to Temari, she _did_ get jealous when she saw he was with Temari and she was very concerned with how sick he seemed today. Maybe he hadn't blown it after all?

Either way, he was going to have to ask the one reliable source he had, the one person in the world who knew that Sasuke had slept with a stuffed cat toy until he was 12. He was going to have to ask… Itachi Uchiha.

* * *

**A/N:** There. Longest chapter yet, focusing mainly on Sasuke and Sakura's interactions. Suigetsu wont be in the story much after this, only mentioned briefly… or will he!? 

2008 words of story in honour of the year 2008. Hope you enjoyed.

Oh, the next chapter should be quite long too – I'm getting better at long chapters each time I write one. It'll focus on the end of the year dance being announced. Yay.

Oh, have any of you ever been at school sick and unable to leave? It's horrible. This chapter is dedicated to all those people who've been through the same trauma of being ill and stranded at school!


	17. Naruto: Dance!

**A/N: The dates on the previous two chapters (saying Monday 8****th**** October) were off by a day… my bad. Guess I should proof read stuff more carefully, huh?**

**That'll be fixed before you know it, no worries. So stop reading this and read the new chapter.**

**Disclaimer: I have officially run out of funny disclaimers… suggestions on a postcard? **

Tuesday **9****­ ****th**October, 1:05 pm, School.

Naruto Uzumaki did not suit patience. He had been waiting for over five minutes to finally hear what Sakura had to say.

See, Sakura said she had something to tell him and Sasuke…. She had shouted at him when he had asked. He wasn't going to ask again because she wasn't going to tell him. Not until Sasuke got here. That much was clear.

HE crossed his arms on the table and used them as a substitute pillow as he waited. How much longer would Sasuke take? Naruto needed money and that money would have to be borrowed from Sasuke – he _had _tried Sakura, but she was eating a lunch she had made at home. 

The scraping of a chair on the ground caused Naruto to look up. It wasn't Sasuke; it was someone far less exciting… Shikamaru Nara had just arrived with a blonde girl in tow, a look of sheer apathy plastered on his face. 

The girl next to him on the other hand was difficult to define. She seemed wide eyed with wonder, away with the fairies, wired to the moon, in a wor-

A hand was shot out in front of Naruto, ready to be shaken. "HI!" the girl opposite him shouted/said (shout… said… it was too difficult to call) "My name's Ino Yamanaka. What's your name?"

He shook her hand. "Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki" 

She looked at him, blinked, and then looked at Sakura before speaking. "So… is Sasuke here? Is he? Huh? Huh? Huh?" 

Naruto was bewildered; this girl was quite clearly 'off-her-rocker' as his uncle would have said. 

Sakura looked at her from across the table "Sit down… and why are you five minutes late?" she looked at Shikamaru "You didn't let her take advantage of you, did you?"

Shikamaru felt his face grow hot. For some reason his mind didn't want Sakura to think he and Ino had something going on between them. 

Seeing as his decision to investigate why he liked Sakura had unearthed no solutions he had decided to view it in a different light. His mind was thinking ahead of him. That must be why he didn't know, right? 

Before he could answer, however, Ino answered for him. "He was talking to his _girlfriend"_

Sakura and Naruto both looked at Shikamaru, Naruto nearly breaking his neck due to the speed he turned around; A girlfriend? Shikamaru? Unheard of. Completely unbelievable!

Naruto sprung up in his seat, finger pointed to object "YOU DON'T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND, YOU LIAR!"

Shikamaru rubbed his ear. "Of course I don't have a girlfriend."

Ino chimed in again "He was getting pretttttty cosy with a red-head in the music department. Pretttttty cosy indeeeeed"

Sakura sighed "That was just Tayuya, right Shikamaru?" (Was that relief?', Shikamaru wondered)

He planted himself on a chair before he explained. "Yeah, it was. She was looking for Sakon, wondering if I had seen him around; it was nothing important or 'cosy'."

Naruto continued to look stand up and look at Shikamaru "Yeah, but who's this red-headed girlfriend of yours?"

"…Shut up, moron" a voice from the side told him. The voice belonged to Sasuke who looked, after throwing up in the bathroom, a little better than he did ten minutes ago. 

He slouched into a seat and sighed, wondering how long it was until his music exam that afternoon, you see; looks can be deceiving and he now felt worse than he had all day. 

"So Sakura" Naruto said, ignoring that 'moron' comment, "What was it you had to tell us, or ask us… whatever it was just tell us!"

Sasuke had to admit, he was curious too. 

Shikamaru looked up as well, feeling slightly jealous that Sakura had something to ask Naruto and Sasuke… were they love rivals? Was what he felt even love at all?

Ino just put her finger on her chin and looked over at the cafeteria till. 

"Shika… do they sell an-"She continued talking but Shikamaru filtered her out. Whatever Naruto and Sasuke were being asked, he wanted to hear it.

"Ok" Sakura said "It's about the Dance"

Everyone froze, Naruto shouted out what was on everyone's mind"

"DANCE? WHAT DANCE!" 

Sakura sighed. "I guess only the student council know about it…"

"So… what do you want to ask us about it?" Shikamaru said, feigned interest mainly. He wasn't planning on attending. Not in a million years. Shikamaru Nara didn't do dancing.

"Well… seeing as it's compulsory…" 

"HOLD IT!" Naruto interrupted. All eyes fell on him as he rubbed the back of his own head. "Uh…. What does compulsory mean…" he said - with a more appropriate level of volume.

Sasuke looked weakly at him. "It means you have to attend."

Naruto looked shocked by this news, apparently he hadn't intended to go either, though it wasn't too clear why.

Shikamaru was taken aback too, great, they had to attend. Who would he take?

Sasuke on the other hand, couldn't care less when he found out, he was more concerned with not being sick again.

Minutes passed as Sakura ran through the finer details of the dance.

It was in December. It was formal. It was for their year and the year above only. There would be dancing. You were supposed to bring a date, though you didn't have to.

Ino was first to voice her problem. "I don't have a date!" she whined 

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Maybe you could take Ukon, you spent enough time fawning over him last night. Or Sai, you were drooling over him in the math corridor which, Sakura, is why we were late. Nothing to do with Tayuya."

Ino glared at him. "Well, we all know who you'll want to take"

Shikamaru froze, she promised she wouldn't say anything… was she lying?

"That red head, the one that made us late" She smirked at him. This girl was troublesome, she knew exactly what he thought she was talking about.

Naruto looked over at Sasuke, who had nearly fallen asleep on the table, and tapped him on the head. 

"Sasuke… why don't you go home?"

Sasuke took a while to reply, obviously incredibly sick. "Because I have a music exam last period, and it can't be moved."

"Who told you that?" Naruto asked him, unaware that it was himself.

"You did, moron"

"No I didn't"

Sasuke got a sinking feeling in his stomach - "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I said next Tuesday."

"You said this Tuesday"

Naruto thought hard. "Oh yeah! I did say that! Oh well, no harm no foul."

There was a moment of deafening silence as Sasuke glared at Naruto, rage building inside and giving him the strength to move.

Safe in the knowledge that he could go home Sasuke stood on his (shaking, he still felt sick) feet and left the cafeteria, though this was after giving Naruto a punch on the face for good measure, it didn't hurt him much – Sasuke was far to ill for that – but it was a warning of things to come.

Naruto looked at Sakura. Ready to say why the dance was troubling him.

"Sakura…" he said 

"Yeah?"

"I… I can't… I can't…. dance." He said "I can't dance, at all"

She started at him and blinked. "Oh…" She was at a loss for what to say, he couldn't dance but he would have to dance in just over 2 months… how embarrassing it would be to be in his (two left) shoes.

Ino interrupted their conversation with a helpful outburst; "My friend can teach you. She can dance. She's good at it." She paused "Oh… but its only about 10 weeks. Could you learn in that time?"

Naruto looked at her, ready to accept the challenge of learning in such a short time

"I CAN LEARN IN HALF THE TIME, BELIEVE IT!" 

He slammed the table with his hands, knocking over his lunch (he had managed to get money from Shikamaru) in the process, "BRING IT ON!"

Ino blinked, wiping some soup from her face. This kid was a walking disaster; could Hinata really teach this guy how to dance? 

"Meet me after school and I'll tell you about it, ok? And you better be grateful about this!"

"Deal!" Naruto shouted.

Sakura and Shikamaru look on at the two blond haired teenagers, each of them both in their own delightful private universe. 

As Shikamaru watched Naruto laughing and bragging to and with Ino he felt a distressing feeling at the back of his head. For the second time that day, jealousy had reared its ugly head. 

'What a drag...'

* * *

A/N: Finally got Hinata introduced. She'll be sans le stutter (that's without the stutter) because it can be troublesome to write.

Hope you enjoyed, Sasuke got sent home, his exam is next month. Yay!

Sasuke's classmates wouldn't have told him this because he doesn't talk to his classmates. Simple.


	18. Neji: Intentions

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto. Believe it.

* * *

Tuesday **9****­ ****th**October, 2:00 pm, School.

Neji's life had recently gone through a series of changes; he had been dumped by his girlfriend for some other guy (a guy who was _a year younger_ than himself), he had gotten too drunk last night and made out with Haku from the year below him (for the last time _he thought it was a girl!_) and it had been announced that there was to be a dance held at the end of the year, and going dateless just wasn't his thing.

So Sakura Haruno had become the target of his latest plot. The plot was fairly simple. She had to fall in love with him, all the while thinking he shared her feelings (it made the entire plan easier if she thought so). The rest of the plan became a bit more complicated. Sakura, thinking the two of them were in love, would go to the dance with him, and, if all went to plan (and all _would_ go to plan), they would get a lot "closer" after the dance. 

He would admit it, he was after her to satisfy lust. Lust and fate. Fate had told him he had to get Sakura to be his girlfriend to turn his luck around. Since TenTen had dumped him he had accidentally made out with a guy instead of a girl (a guy who's boyfriend could kick Neji's ass 5 times over without breaking a sweat, rumour had it the guy even carried a _sword_.) And he had fallen over on the bus yesterday morning. Ok, the bus thing was _before_ TenTen dumped him, so really it was just the making out with Haku that had gone wrong, And he was _really drunk_, so maybe fate had nothing to do with it. 

No! Fate definitely had something to do with it, Neji just had a feeling; a fateful feeling. 

'Who care's if lust is what drives a relationship anyway?' he asked himself

'Girls care. They care a lot.' He told himself

He paused. That could be a problem. An easy solved problem though – he would just let Sakura believe he was in love with her. If she was fooled into thinking his feelings for her were so great then his plan would work out in double time. He could take her to the dance and even be "romantic" with her before the dance. 

After the dance he would stay together with her for a while before making up some excuse to dump her.

He would start with light flirting in days to come and then, around the end of the month, the flirting would increase and then, while at a Halloween party he would invite her to, he would give her their first kiss. Then, in November, he would ask her out. She would say yes and soon after that his bad luck would be righted again by fate, not to mention TenTen would be out of his system for good. 

Completely Ingenious.

He picked up his bag after the bell had rung to end the class -he had the rest of the day for 'independent study' so naturally he would go home and 'independently study' the science behind sleeping all day.

* * *

**A/N**: Yeah, so, Neji is an ass in this story. If you're comparing him with his personality in the actual show, this is Neji before he got some sense beaten into him.

That being said, he doesn't hate Hinata, he actually likes Hinata and there is no such thing as the Head/Branch family. They are all the Hyuga family. Yay for unity!So Neji is the "bad guy" - but don't let that fool you. There is a real chance he could end up with Sakura. As always, this short chapter will be followed by an extended chapter - to average things out. 

If anyone reads my long A/Ns, thanks a bunch!


	19. Time Skip Recap

Oturan nwo t'nod I:**remialcsiD**

**A/N: There has been a timeskip of THREE WEEKS between chapters 18 and 19. So anything that is unclear will be filled in for you, you are not missing any chapters, rest easy.**

* * *

Tuesday 30th**­ **October, 00:00am, Sasuke's Bedroom.

A quest? How did someone like Sasuke end up with a quest?! The world had officially gone out of its mind. There was no way what was happening to him was real.

He slowed down, trying to reassess the situation, taking everything he knew so far into consideration.

First of all, the quest at hand was to get a date for a dance. Easy enough, he was Sasuke Uchiha. He could take any girl he wanted.

This is where he hit his first problem. Why was it he wanted a particular girl. A pink haired girl no less. A pink haired girl he had attempted to ignore for the best part of 4 years. Why did he have to develop these feelings for her?

The quest thickened however, when he found out a delightful piece of information. According to Temari and Tayuya (who weren't 100 percent reliable) Neji Hyuga had also set his eyes on the lovely Sakura. If Sakura was over Sasuke (like he suspected she was) he would have to step up and make her un-over-him again. This would take some time but he had begun to lay the foundations of the project through playful flirting and the like.

He couldn't let Naruto know he was after Sakura though, being in competition for a girl with Sasuke? Surely Naruto knew well enough to know he should just avoid such a competition altogether, right?

* * *

Tuesday 30th**­ **October, 3:00am, Naruto's Bedroom.

Tossing and turning, kicking and fidgeting, nothing seemed to be working. Naruto needed to get to sleep, at this rate it looked like his grand total for time slept that night would be around 3 hours, at best.

A lot had changed for the young blond over the last 3 weeks. Well, actually little had changed; he just always thought things would seem more interesting if alot had changed. He was still hanging around with Sasuke (who had forgiven him for that music-exam mix up) and Sakura who, regrettably, had much of her time taken up due to the preparation of the end of year dance.

Speaking of dancing, Naruto's first dance lesson was the next day with a girl named Hinata. Taking dancing lessons, a great way to have your friends mock you senseless for days.

Either way, this Hinata girl was a relative of Neji's come to think of it… Naruto thought he recognised the name, the "Hinata part", not the "Hyuga" part. She was apparently nice, though Kiba Inuzuka found it funny that she would be teaching Naruto Uzumaki to dance, Sasuke also grinned at this, Naruto chose to ignore it, the better he could dance the more chance he had to sweep the lovely Sakura Haruno off of her feet. Sweep her off her feet _at_ the dance. The plan was foolproof.

Or it _used to be_ at least.

See, this is where things got complicated. Apparently, Sasuke had been flirting with Sakura, and so had Neji. If they took her to the dance he couldn't sweep her off of her feet. The plan had recently taken on a new incarnation with a catchy title;

"Get Sakura To Fall In Love With Me Before The Dance So That Neji And Sasuke Don't Steal Her Away From Me Before I Can Prove My Feelings For Her Are Real"

But Naruto kept forgetting the name of the plan so he shortened the name.

It had become GSTFILWMBTDSTNASDSHAFMBICPMFFHAR. Each letter was the start of each word.

This too, surprisingly enough, became too complicated and the name became

"The Plan"

So, after around 4 years of attempting to get Sakura to notice him, Naruto was now on a quest to get the girl of his dreams. And he was in direct competition with 2 of the best looking guys in the entire school. Easy as pi, right?

* * *

Tuesday 30th**­ **October, 5:00am, Nara Household Living Room.

Shikamaru rubbed his eyes as he sat at the breakfast table. Why did his parents insist of such a ridiculous time to get up?

"Even the chickens are still sleepin'!" as Ino would put it.

Shikamaru shuddered slightly. It was bad enough that girl was plaguing his every waking moment, now she was even inside his head?

Despite that, over the past few weeks he had found himself growing closer and closer to her and found that he was just getting further and further from the answer to his pressing question; "Why do I like Sakura?"

That was a lie actually, he was very close to an answer, and he just couldn't find the way to word it properly. Either way the question would keep; right now he had to think about how to get out of the end of year dance.

He slouched down in his chair, at least the next 2 hours wouldn't be interrupted by Ino, and she actually wanted him to dress as a deer for a Halloween party the next night

("Shika-Ino-Chou!" she whined at him "You have to, it's in your name!") He said it was "too obvious", she said it was "too fun" while sticking her tongue out at him. He was sure she would come up with a costume idea which didn't involve him looking like an idiot in a deer suit, which is what he would look like if he dressed like one.

He slouched even further down in his chair, apparently he was about to get another few minutes of sleep, because he just couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

* * *

Tuesday 30th**­ **October, 6:00am, Neji's Bedroom.

Neji got out of his bed and stretched his arms. Tonight was the night he planned to test the waters for his and Sakura's first kiss, he had invited her to a Halloween party and she had said yes. It was only a matter of time before she was his.

This party was going to be the first step in Neji's path to true happiness, of that he was certain.

* * *

**A/N:** Hellish chapter to write, 4 "viewpoints" crammed in there.

Right now I am physically exhausted and I'm going to go and play some smash bros brawl, which is why I haven't been writing new chapters lately.

Ino- Boar  
Chou – Butterfly

Shika – Deer, or is it Dear? (that's why she wanted him to dress as his name, she wants her and chouji to do the same.)

(If you live in the UK, get a new Wii Freeloader disk and Smash Bros from American and go nuts!)


	20. Sasuke: Bad Morning

Disclaimer: GET BACK LAWDOGS, BACK!

Tuesday 30th**­ **October, 09:25am Classroom

* * *

Sasuke was sitting on his seat, arms crossed, looking out the window taking a good few moments to hate the world. Naruto sat opposite, waiting for Sasuke to finish.

There was good reason to hate the world though. Everyone was going to a party the following night and he. Sasuke Uchiha. Had to work. Unfair, yes. Unjust, definitely.

"Bah" said Naruto "Cheer up."

Sasuke shot him a violent glare.

Naruto nearly fell off of his seat. "Whoa Sasuke, If looks could kill, actually… I think th- … " Naruto clasped his heart with one hand and waved his free arm around.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. Dumbass.

"…help me!..." Naruto gasped "I forgot… Uchiha looks CAN kill!"

He continued waving his arms around and gasping for air until he, accidentally, fell off of his seat and crashed onto the floor sprawled out on his back.

Surely Naruto should carry a health warning.

Laughter filled the classroom as blood rushed to Naruto's face.

Sasuke's hand shot down to offer support, uncomfortable at the attention being drawn to them. It took the attention long enough to die down since Sasuke had entered high school, he didn't want any more drawn to, or near, him.

"Is your little act over?" he asked

Naruto took his hand and stood up, still red in the face, "Shut up. Ass. I meant that anyway. For comic effect"

Sasuke went back to his work, choosing to ignore excuses. He was far to busy silently fuming over what had happened that morning, and what it meant for him tomorrow night.

Tuesday 30th**­ **October, 07:25amUchiha Household

Grabbing his bag, coat and mobile phone Sasuke was just heading out the door to school when an irritating sound rung out. An unknown caller was calling his mobile. It could have been one of his friends, he had only got the phone days ago. The same place he had gotten Naruto's birthday present.

The phone continued to beep and plink out the default ring tone until Sasuke answered. At first there was only silence, until a (barley) female voice to him. It was Tayuya, and she sounded drunk. Very drunk.

"Hey Sasuke dearest" she giggled.

"Hey…" he said. He hated talking to Tayuya on the phone. She always wanted something. "Wait… how did you get this number?"

"From your friend Uzumaki last night"

"Oh." He sighed (mental note: kill Naruto) "What do you want?"

"to tell you something" she giggled again. A voice in the background spoke, but Sasuke couldn't make out what was said. Probably another drunk. She must have been at a party.

'At 7am?' he asked himself 'who goes to parties at 7am?'

'Some people' he argued back

'Not teenage girls before school' he thought bluntly.

He was right. She wouldn't be at a party. It was just too early.

Wait. Why was she drunk this early? Usually, Sasuke hated being side tracked, but curiosity got the better of him so he asked her.

"Why are you drunk this early?"

She responded. "I was at a party until like 4 in the morning."

"Ok." He told her "And where are you now?"

'Again with the sidetracking' he scolded himself 'find out what she wants before she forgets'

"Never mind that" He interrupted "What do you want?"

"Well, I was to like, tell you… you're working tomorrow after schooooool" she lengthened the last word, as if she was concentrating on something else. That or she was sleep deprived.

"Hn. Whatever." He told her "Goodbye"

"Bye!" she said full of glee

He hung up his phone and opened the door, tripping over the step as he left the house. Just in time to see his bus go flying past the stop, without him on it.

He should have talked to Tayuya while he was walking to the stop. Damn.

It wasn't _too_ far to Naruto's. He would get a lift to school from Deidara. Perfect.

Tuesday 30th**­ **October, 09:35amClassroom

So, after that morning it had taken him a full hour to realise what working tomorrow meant. It had even taken Naruto to point it out;

"You'll miss the party tomorrow then?" he had said.

And that's how it stood. Sasuke Uchiha was going to miss one of the biggest parties of the year all because he had work. He had been planning on taking Sakura… in an informal way, but still, it could have been counted as a date.

Speaking of dates, Sasuke hadn't asked who Naruto was going to take.

'Oh well' he thought 'why should I care who Naruto it taking, I probably dont even know the poor girl'

* * *

A/N: Gah… I've been so busy lately I had no time to write… and I can only get online for an hour a week anyway… I hope I haven't lost any readers while I didn't update.

Also, I hope Sasuke didn't seem _too_ mean when he thought;

"Why should I care who Naruto is taking,"

He is only thinking that way because he's cranky. I'm sure he'll be interested later.

Next chapters will focus on Naruto and the gang discussing the party (or not discussing it as the case may be for Sasuke)


	21. Naruto: Observations

Tuesday 30th October

**Diss Claimer: **that Claimer is so fat; I had to take a taxi and a bus just to get on his good side. There. I dissed Claimer. Happy?

**Please read the A/N at the bottom. It's important. Thanks.**

* * *

Tuesday 30th**­ **October 1:10pm Cafeteria

Sakura massaged her temples in an effort to fight off an incoming headache. It didn't help that Naruto was sitting opposite her, talking at a rate of 5 or more words per second.

"Seriously Naruto" she interrupted "If you don't stop talking you'll eventually pass out. Maybe you should just be quite for a minute or two?"

He looked hurt and Sakura felt a slight feeling of guilt, thankfully he regained his goofy grin a mere second later.

"Sorry Sakura…" he said "It's just… I'm excited about tomorrow night and I can't speak to Sasuke about it…"

She looked up, he had caught her interest. Why couldn't he speak to Sasuke about it?

She waited for him to continue, he didn't. He was giving his undivided attention to a loose thread on his unbuttoned shirt.

"Naruto!" she snapped at him. He shot up, leaving the thread alone at once

"Wh-what!?" he choked. "What'd I do!?"

She sighed "Nothing. Why can't you talk to Sasuke about the party?"

"Meh" he shrugged "'Cause he can't go so he's being an asshole about it. I didn't even know he liked parties, thought he hated social situations. Still, he does seem to be down about not going, I guess he had a reason to go, something special? Maybe even _someone_ special" - he rounded the last part of his theory off with a wide grin while Sakura sat in disbelief – analysing a strange feeling in her heart.

Sasuke Uchiha might have a crush on someone? The Sasuke _she_ used too have such a huge crush on? The truth was, Sakura always had a soft spot for Sasuke, even after she had announced she was "over him" she hadn't meant it.

"What's wrong Sakura?" Naruto asked, bringing his face within an inch of her own, incase it was a secret.

She sighed, "I don't know"

Naruto stared at her, sitting back in his seat. "It's about Sasuke?"

She nodded slowly, hesitant to ask Naruto for help due to his useless reputation for social and emotional situations. She chose to remain silent. Naruto chose not to.

"Because of what I said?"

Again, she nodded.

Naruto mentally punched himself on the head several times; he hated seeing Sakura upset, he hated it even more so when he caused it.

"Ahhh no! I was kidding!" he said, waving his hands frantically "You know how cold that bastard can be! No way would he like someone!! It's just he must have a reason to be upset? I just thought…. It was a joke!"

She seemed unconvinced, so Naruto offered a solution

"Look. I'll find out if he likes anyone, ok?"

She nodded, finally seeming reasurred.

"Anyway…" Naruto began "Are you… like…going with anyone?

"To the party?" she asked him

It was his turn to nod silently.

"I'm going with Neji" she smiled "He asked me a few days ago"

Naruto's heart fell through the floor with a crash. She was going to the party with Neji!? Was it a date!? Why did she say yes!? Did she like him!?

Even Naruto knew better than to blurt out all those questions at her, unfortunetly his head was five seconds behind his mouth and before he knew what a bad idea it was he had already began asking.

"NEJI!? WHY ARE YOU GOING WITH HIM!? IS IT A DATE!? WHY DID YOU SAY YES!? DO YOU _LIKE_ HIM!?" he yelled – instantly regretting it while preparing to feel the wrath of Sakura.

She laughed. That was it. She laughed and then she answered his questions.

"Yes Neji. It's not a date; he's giving me a lift in his car. I said yes because I needed a lift and he offered. Yes I like him, but I don't have a crush on him."

He blinked, smiling internally, so she didn't have a crush on Neji.

"Anyway" Sakura said to him "I have to go. I have an experiment to do for my chemistry class; Shikamaru will be waiting for me"

Naruto sighed. "Fine. I guess I'll just go and find Sasuke, he'll be sulking in a corner somewhere no doubt. I'll see if he does have a crush on anyone"

Both of them walked off in separate directions, each with very different thoughts on their minds.

Sakura, who hadn't given feelings for Naruto a second glance was wondering how she could have missed how observant and considerate he could be – he was even going off to find out if Sasuke had a crush on anyone, all for her.

Then there was the Uchiha himself. Why did she seem upset at the idea of him having a girlfriend? Sure he had been flirting with her recently… and maybe she did still have a crush on him…

Then there was Neji, although she didn't have a crush on him he was always nice to her and even offered to take her to the party tomorrow night, maybe she did have feelings for him other than friendship, she did find herself blushing if he complimented her…

While she thought all these feelings might cause problems she shrugged them off. There was no way any huge trouble could come out of this, right?

While Naruto was thinking something different than Sakura his thoughts were more or less of the same variety - guys who had a crush on Sakura.

There was the fact that Sasuke had been flirting with her, and he was upset that he couldn't go to that party… Naruto had already pieced together those facts and drawn the correct, and problematic, conclusion - Sasuke had a crush on Sakura.

Then there was Neji, he had invited her to a party. Guys like Neji rarely waited to make a move on a girl, so by the 1st of November Sakura might already have a boyfriend, and Naruto could hardly sweep Sakura off of her feet if she had a boyfriend like Neji; he was smart and had good looks, just like Sasuke.

Shikamaru. Not the type of guy to have any romantic feelings, sure, but for some reason Naruto got the feeling Shikamaru had a soft spot for Sakura. There was no evidence or reason for this thought, it was just a feeling he got, why would Shikamaru bother putting up with someone happy and upbeat unless he liked them?

It was a much lower chance, but Shikamaru still stood a chance with Sakura, they were the top of the year grade wise.

That's where he entered the equation. He wasn't exactly gorgeous; he had lower than average grades (ok, the lowest grades in the year), a short temper and a border-line ramen addiction. About the only thing he had going for him was the amount of effort he put into things. What chance did he stand against guys like Sasuke and Neji?

Still, it wasn't in his nature to give up when things weren't in his favour, it made things more interesting, so he was going to continue fighting for Sakura. Also, there was no other girl he would ever consider taking to the end of year dance.

'Speaking of dancing' he thought 'I should _really_ go and ask Ino where I'm meeting this Hinata girl to learn how to dance…I bet she'll be really scary and shout if I get it wrong…'

So he set off to find Ino, completely forgetting about Sasuke. The quest for love was more important, Sasuke would have to wait.

* * *

A/N: Wow. Long chapter, with a lot of Naruto thinking at the end. I like this chapter… I think

Oh yeah – **There are about 6 chapters or so left before part 1 is over. **– Part 2 will be a direct continuation from part 1 with no time skip, but it looks like the fiction could hit around 40-50 chapters and putting it in two parts will be more tidy.

Next chapter: Shikamaru tries to shake off Ino as he makes his way to his experiment with Sakura, will anything get rid of her?


	22. Shikamaru: Dragging Along

**Disclaimer: **I don't own a ps3. Or Naruto.

* * *

Tuesday 30th**­ **October 1:10pm School corridor

"I need a drink" he said

"I'll come with you" she said

"I need some fresh air" he told her

"I do too!" she explained

"I'm going to smoke" he tried

"I won't, but I'll come with you!" smiled

"I need to go do an experiment in the chemistry lab." - that would get rid of her

"I'll come!" – it didn't work.

Shikamaru had been trying to shake Ino off for over 10 minutes. Usually he didn't mind her following him around, standing where he stood and the like. It was solely because she was trying to pressure him into dressing as a deer for a Halloween party. Why couldn't his dad have given him a different name?

She sighed "Just dress as a deer!"

"No. Why should I?" he asked

"Well…because; your name is **Shika**maru."

"And are you going as a pig **Ino?**" he asked her, already knowing the answer.

"A boar, but yes; I'm going as an undead boar; I'll scare away all the little kids and take the candy they drop! Muhahahaha!"

He sighed. An undead boar…? Ino was really unlike anyone he'd ever met.

"Well, I really have to go do this experiment with Sakura"

"I bet you can't wait to 'experiment' with Sakura." She said as she smirked

He sighed. She imitated.

"Any idea why you like her yet?" she asked him. He had already made the mistake of telling Ino he was trying to work out why he had a crush on Sakura. Well, he hadn't so much told her, she had guessed that's what a "smart-ass" like him would do. She was right.

"Nope." He said "No idea."

"It's 'cause she's smart, isn't it?"

"I said I have no idea"

"Well I do, it's because she's smart. You're smart, she's smart, love it created!" she concluded.

He rolled his eyes, making sure she noticed. "Look, I don't even think I like her. I really don't."

"Well" she smiled "Who _do_ you like?"

He felt his face getting hot. It was obvious she wouldn't believe "no one" – but to be honest, while he had an idea who he liked he couldn't be sure. He chose to ignore her.

"I really have to get going" he said. "Bye"

"I'm coming with you!" she told him "To prove that you do like Sakura!"

He sighed again; could nothing get this girl away from him? If she wasn't ranting on about that stupid Halloween party then she was ranting on about him "loving" Sakura. Women could be such a drag; what did she care if he liked Sakura or not.

Fortunately there was something that could get Ino away from him. That something in question was loud, blonde, hyperactive and heading right for them. That something was Naruto Uzumaki.

"HEY! INO!" he shouted down the hall "I NEED TO TALK TO YOU!"

After he within a metre of them he, thankfully, lowered the volume of his voice to a dull roar.

"Could you tell me where and when I'm supposed to meet that Hinata girl? I wrote it down but I lost the piece of paper!"

"Sure!" she beamed "Just let me say bye to Shika' and I'll tell you, kay?"

He gave her a fox like grin. "Sure!"

After she had said goodbye to Shikamaru Ino began to walk through the corridors of the school with Naruto.

"So… Hinata goes to an all girl school on the edge of town. You're supposed to be there at 4pm… so that gives you half an hour to get across town. It's the only school in its area, do you know which school I'm talking about?" she said.

"Uh…Yeah…"

"What's wrong, are you lying? 'Cause if you don't show up then you'll have me to answer to!"

"Uh yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking, I recognise her name is all."

"Hyuga? She's Neji's cousin… all clear?"

He shook his head. "I mean Hinata. I think I've met her once before. Oh well, I'll be meeting her again after school, right? So I guess I can ask her."

Ino smiled, "Ok, just don't mess this up. I'm going to go and find Chouji seeing as Shikamaru is too busy with his stupid science stuff to hang out with me."

Naruto smiled back "Yeah, I need to go and find Sasuke. See ya!"

Before Ino could even manage to say goodbye the blond was gone, already all the way down the corridor and around the corner. Oh well.

* * *

**A/N: **Rightio – I hope you liked that chapter - nothing much to say about it.

In the next chapter Naruto meets Hinata and some of her friends as he makes quite the scene at her school. We'll also find out where Sasuke was in chapter 24. We won't be seeing any ShikaSaku moments in any chapters soon. Soz ShikaSaku lovers!


	23. Sasuke: Favour to Ask

**Disclaimer: **I lost Naruto in a poker game.

Tuesday 30th October 1:20pm School corridor

Temari sat opposite him, crossing her legs and giving him her most sarcastic smirk.

She put her finger on her chin and adopted a look of mock-thought. "So… let me get this straight."

He fought the urge to roll his eyes, wishing she would just answer the question, "yes" or "no".

She pointed in his direction. "**You** want **me** to work tomorrow in your place. So that **you** can go to a party? Is that right?"

He sighed. "Yeah, I guess that's about it."

She smiled with a shrug. "I can't help you. Sorry."

"Why not?!" he snapped at her. If she was going to answer no then why did she insist on making him wait?

"Because I'm working tomorrow too" she said plainly.

He blinked in surprise (which doesn't happen often). "Oh. Right… sorry"

Silence fell upon them until Sasuke remembered his next question. "Why didn't you just say no?!" he yelled (again, something which doesn't happen often) at her.

She smirked and prepared to answer. "Well, I guess it's because…"

He leaned in. She leaned in too. He could feel her breath on his face. "It's because…oh."

He blinked for a second time. "Oh?"

She leaned back and smiled at him. "Here comes Mr Uzumaki"

Sasuke spun around. It was true, Naruto was coming for him.

'That dumbass has _the_ worst timing in the world' he thought, cursing Naruto under his breath.

"Hey! Sasuke! I need to ask you something!" Naruto shouted as he ran over

Sasuke sighed heavily "What? Make it fast"

Temari cleared her throat, both Sasuke and Naruto looked at her. "I'll just be going then." She said as she slowly walked away "See you later Sasuke, Naruto"

"Bye Temari!" Naruto half-shouted half-said.

"…Bye" Sasuke said before turning his attention back to Naruto. "What did you want to ask?"

Naruto grinned. "Who do you have a crush on?"

Sasuke choked. Temari had chosen to turn back to them, waiting to hear his answer.

Heat flushed his face, bubbling upwards from the neck. Thankfully Sasuke managed to compress his blush to a small pink glow in his cheeks.

"Don't ask such stupid questions. Come on, lets go." He said – trying to avoid making eye contact with the now smirking Temari.

"Go where?" Naruto asked

Sasuke rolled his eyes "I don't care. Let's go and get something to eat before the bell rings."

With that Sasuke set off down the corridor with only a "Hn. Bye" to Temari.

Naruto followed after him, resolving to find out the answer to his question at a later date.

* * *

**A/N: **short chapter I know, it had to be done in order to advance to the point where Naruto goes to meet Hinata. Whether he actually meets her or not... well that's debatable... A little bit of action in the next chapter too, wow-ee!

R&R?


	24. Naruto: School of Hard Knocks

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto

* * *

Tuesday 30th**­ **October 3:50pm Outside Kage Private School.

Naruto made his way up the path, still a fair distance from the campus entrance. This was the place he was supposed to learn how to formally dance from 'Hinata Hyuga' – the name was still biting at the back of his memory 'and boy was it enormous!

Naruto had never been inside the school itself but he knew 3 or 4 people who attended it. There was Kiba Inuzuka and his friend Shino, Sai – a boy whom Naruto was 'friends' with – and Gaara Subaku, brother of Temari Subaku. Gaara was found to be mentally 'gifted' and was sent to a private school for a more in depth education.

He checked his watch, it was 3:55pm and classes didn't end until 4pm. He had 5 minutes to burn before he had to meet Hinata so he decided to steal a few minutes of rest on a bench outside of the building. The building was white with old fashioned windows and two large entrance doors.

Naruto shut his eyes, letting him get lost in his own thoughts. He was soon pulled out of his own thoughts when the bell sounded. He opened his eyes to find two guys staring back at him as the other students walked passed them, all of them in their White shirts and black trouser / grey skirt uniforms.

"Hey" Naruto said.

They didn't answer.

He sat up fully to get a better look at them.

One of them was wearing a colourful variation of the schools uniform. He had black trousers alright, but the knees were torn up and there were straps from one leg to the other. His shirt was unbuttoned and underneath he wore a T-shirt with the Japanese for "Death Death Death" written on it. _Real classy_. He had wild spiky hair and a headband not unlike the one Naruto was wearing, black, but with a Musical note on it. He looked quite sinister and was standing on Naruto's right.

"What's your name?" He asked. No reply from Righty.

The guy on the left looked sinister too, but on a whole new level.

He wore bandages over his face showing only one eye and the brown bangs of his hair. His jacket was grey with jumbo-sleeves and it had what looked like a furry rug stitched to the back. Naruto couldn't tell if he was wearing a shirt underneath it all but if he was it would definitely say something a lot worse than "Death Death Death".

"Ok… what's _your_ name?" He asked. Lefty too was un-talkative.

Next to these guys Naruto's clothes (a black shirt, orange jacket and black jeans) looked conspicuous and Sasuke seemed like the host of some chat show.

He stood up, suddenly remembering that he had an appointment with Hinata. He went to walk passed the two silent boys when Righty put a hand on his chest and pushed him back down.

"You're not going anywhere" He smirked. His voice was calm but had a venomous sting to it. "My name's Zaku, and this here is Dosu."

"I was just gonna call you Righty and Lefty" Naruto reasoned with a smile.

Zaku sunk a fist deep into Naruto's stomach, causing him to double over. "Shut up. What the hell are you doing here anyway and where the hell did you come from?"

Naruto had coughed up a little blood. He spat it bang onto Zaku's army boots before standing up and wiping his mouth.

"I'm here to meet someone. I'm from Konoha High" he said with a (partly bloody) smirk.

Dosu's eye seemed to move in a way which suggested a smirk. Naruto fought off a shudder. Zaku eyed his boot and spoke again. "Konoha High, huh? Then you won't mind paying the price. It costs to visit here from outside."

Some other pupils had started to gather around; Naruto figured these guys were well known for violence. "I don't have any money" he told them "I'm flat broke"

Dosu spoke this time. "Oh well… that's too bad. I'm sure we'll find something of value once you empty your pockets - your backpack too - otherwise you'll be even more broke in a minute."

Naruto shivered internally. That guy's voice was deep, real deep. If he hadn't been Naruto's height he could have passed as an adult easily.

"So what'll it be blondie? Empty your pockets and bag and we'll let you off without any… unpleasantness. Got it?" Zaku said – fortifying Dosu's point.

"Actually my name's Naruto…" the blond said with his head bowed down.

"Thanks for your co-operation then, Naruto" Zaku said as he reached down to take the boy's backpack.

Before he could grip onto it however, Naruto's fist collided with cheek, causing his centre of balance to shift and knocking him to the concrete with a slight gasp of pain.

The gathered crowd gasped and whispered, Dosu spun around to look at Naruto, Zaku glared up at him as he rubbed the fresh bruise on his cheek while Naruto began to speak.

"You didn't let me finish." he said, his head still bowed "I was going to say My name's Naruto, and if you two don't beat it I'll beat the hell out of you both with my bare hands, YOU GOT THAT!?" he roared at them.

The blond was looking at his two assailants now with a completely different look than before. His calm blue eyes had been replaced with sincere eyes which flashed red, his grin replace with a growl and his entire personality had been flipped upside down.

Zaku got back to his feet. Dosu blinked in confusion and the growing crowd awaited the response of their peers.

Zaku smirked "Finally" he said "somebody at this place who knows how to throw a punch!"

Dosu too seemed to be thrilled at the prospect of someone who could fight. Apparently these two hadn't got to fight so much at this school, their bullying must have been a walk in the park.

Dosu and Zaku stood at either side of Naruto, getting ready to fight with their

new-found fresh-faced prey. Naruto clenched his fists as the rage inside of him began to grow uncontrollably. He tried to fight it off but the cheering and jeering of the now pumped-up crowd was becoming too much. He had to shut these two up, there was no way he could just walk away now!

Meanwhile, at the other end of the school a girl sat with her friend, resisting the urge to cry. She was supposed to meet her lifelong crush that day at 4pm but apparently he had more important things to do.

"Hey, hey" Kiba told her "He'll be here. Naruto's a dumbass, he probably just got lost or saw a shiny object or something. You know what he's like"

Hinata sniffled a little "Ye…Yes.. He'll be here"

Kiba cursed that blond idiot. It was 4:10pm now, where had he gotten to?

Before Kiba could give Hinata another encouraging word someone pushed open the door to the room, Hinata looked up but looked upset a moment later. It wasn't Naruto, it was a black haired boy from the year above. He looked like he had some exciting news.

"There's a fight!" he shouted "At the main entrance, you can see it from the window on this floor!"

Kiba scowled, he'd love to go and see it but he wouldn't leave Hinata.

"Who's fighting who?" he asked

"Dosu and Zaku are fighting some spiky haired blond kid from Konoha High! You better hurry 'cause that kid's toast!" the older boy shouted before he darted out.

Both Kiba and Hinata blinked, realising just who the blond haired kid must be.

"C'mon!" Kiba said to Hinata. She nodded fiercely as he ran out of the room.

"Hey, Tobi! Wait up!" Kiba yelled after the older boy.

Hinata followed after him, saying a silent prayer for whoever was fighting Zaku and Dosu, especially if it was Naruto.

* * *

**A/N**: Ok, long chapter. I finished it while doing some chemistry work. Next chapter we'll see Dosu and Zaku fighting with Naruto and learn a little more about Naruto's past - including how he first met Hinata.

And yes, Zaku's shirt in the anime says "Death Death Death" – the kanji "Shi" 3 times. Cool, huh?

Next chapter soon! I just got the internet back so World of Warcraft is calling to me...


	25. Dilema

**Disclaimer:** I don't own a reason for not updating for a while, or Naruto.

* * *

Tuesday 30th**­ **October 4:05pm Second Floor Kage Private School.

Kiba, Hinata, the black haired boy from the year above called Tobi and some other students were giving their full attention to the scene unfolding on the school grounds outside.

"Damn… that is Naruto down there…" Kiba growled before he began to move towards the stairs, figuring Naruto could use the help.

But before he had gotten even a few steps away a hand caught him from behind which stopped him dead in his tracks.

"Don't be so quick to get the stuffing beaten out of you Kiba" Tobi said to him "I'm sure he'll be fine"

"What makes you think you'd know Tobi?! Anyway, that's our friend down there! I can't just let him get his face smashed in by those freaks!" Kiba spat before turning and trying to leave before he could however - Tobi gripped on, harder this time, and lightly pushed him in Hinata's general direction.

"Still, you can't leave your young lady friend on her own now can you? Not when she looks so very worried…" said Tobi

Kiba scowled, it was true Hinata was in no state to be left with people she didn't know and he wouldn't dare take her with him… he was frantically searching for a solution to the problem as a red haired boy began to walk past lowly.

"Hey!" Kiba called out after him. "Where are you going?!"

The figure stopped but didn't turn around. Instead he turned his head slightly in order to give Kiba some attention.

"I'll help Naruto Uzumaki… take Hinata with you and get the principle… she should be in her office for another five minutes. You'll catch her if you hurry." said the person lowly.

"See, Kiba?" Tobi asked "A solution did arise!"

Kiba blinked in surprise "…Ok… fine… but be careful" he warned the boy as he nudged Hinata, motioning her to stand up. "Come on Hinata, we need to go and get Tsunade right away"

"Ok" she said quietly before looking over at the red haired boy – he had already began to walk away

The boy stopped as he felt Hinata's hand on his shoulder

"…Thanks Gaara…" she whispered to him.

He turned around to face he briefly "He'll be fine" he said "I'll be fine. Don't worry"

The shouting from outside and the gasps from inside were getting louder, urging both Gaara and Kiba to hurry up, without a word to each other they set off; Kiba almost running down the halls and Gaara slowly walking.

Maybe if they had taken the time to look outside they would have realised just why everyone was gasping and shouting. For one thing, Naruto Uzumaki was not in trouble.

* * *

**A/N**: Ok, I reaaaaaally screwed up here… But I kept putting off writing a new chapter because I was busy and because the story itself doesn't have a whole load of reviews there was no real driving force.

But I did feel bad for not updating, and I now intend to finish the story ASAP without 2 month breaks…

I know I said this chapter would focus on Naruto's past and how he met Hinata… but I felt like I'd need more time to write that particular chapter… which will be the next chapter…

I also added in Gaara for reasons I shall not explain right now – though he will be in a pairing for the story… I won't say who, what age they are, when it'll happen or what gender they are, but he'll have a relationship. Yay for forward planning.

Finally, sorry for the short chapter and lengthy A/N but it was needed… I'd love some R&R though!

Also, the next chapter I will aim for about 2000 words and it will focus on Naruto's past… and it will say what was going on outside with the Dosu and Zaku fight etc…

Thanks for reading!


	26. Naruto: Voices and Memories

**Disclaimer:** I don't own a reason for not updating for a while, or Naruto.

* * *

Tuesday 30th**­ **October 4:00pm Outside Kage Private School.

After Dosu had landed yet another kick to his left side, just as Zaku rammed a fist into his left rib cage, Naruto was beginning to realise the seriousness of his situation.

It had began to occur to him that taking on two people when he was alone wasn't too smart, if only he had a friend with him, where were Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba or even Gaara when you needed them?

A fist slammed into his nose at a high speed with such impact that his legs just gave up and he fell over. Everything seemed to slow down, was he losing consciousness?

The calls of the ground silence for a few seconds as he lay on the ground, barely keeping his eyes open.

'Hey' he thought 'there are a bunch of people at the windows…'

It was true; there were a good number of people watching from above. He could hardly make them out due to the water in his eyes; it was the punch to the nose causing it, not like he was crying or anything.

He could make out one figure out among the majority of them. She had long blue hair and looked familiar from what Naruto could tell. She had (he thought) white eyes, she was looking right at him and looked worried sick.

He had only just remembered her name, Hinata… a friend of his from when he was younger, but it made no difference, for all the damage he had managed to cause to his attackers (a couple of punches, a few kicks and a headbutt) he had lost and the crowd had got what they wanted, someone beaten up.

His eyes slowly began to close just as Zaku planet a taunting kick into his side. As his eyes closed Naruto cursed himself, he should have been more careful…

* * *

"OUCH!" the young blond shouted at his assailant as he pouted "that stings!"

His 'assailant' looked him in the eye and smiled "Sorry Kiddo, but it just disinfectant, it stops the wound from getting worse."

The man, who had been kneeling, stood up and spoke once more "Come on, let's go get some Ramen"

"Ok!" Naruto cheered as he leapt to his own feet and began to run to the door "I want to get 3 bowls… or maybe 4!"

Minato laughed inwardly as he followed his son to the door 'if only he was as fond of ramen as he was of vegetables…'

Naruto had just polished off his second bowl of noodles before he looked at his dad.

"So…" Minato started, he was trying to approach the subject casually… but how casually do you have to be when dealing with you're 11 year old son? "Are you going to tell me how you got into such a mess?"

"There were these guys, they were picking on Hinata because she's shy… they wouldn't stop and no one else was around! I had to stop them! She's my friend!" Naruto yelled, wasting no time in telling his father.

Minato smiled "Well, good job, I'd say you deserve a third bowl for that"

"Wait, you're not mad? I was fighting at school" Naruto asked, confused at what just happened.

Minato, who had just stood up to go and get more ramen, sat back down.

"Listen son" he told him "Fighting solely to hurt people is wrong; hurting others for fun in any way is the worst thing anyone can do. What you did, fighting to protect someone precious to you, is, on the other hand, the bravest thing anyone could ever do. The ability to perform Self sacrifice without question in order to help others, Naruto, is the best quality anyone could ever have… and I'm proud you have it, I'm very proud of you… that's why I'm not mad… In fact I couldn't be happier. And don't you worry, I'm sure if your mother was here she'd feel the same."

Naruto fought back the tears he felt forming, His dad... was proud of him? And his mom would be too?

"Anyway" Minato said, sliding money towards his son "Go and get yourself some ramen, make sure and ask for an extra big bowl, with extra noodles!"

Naruto beamed at him and took the money as he ran off.

'Well Kushina' Minato thought as he looked upwards with a hint of sadness 'It looks like I raised him right, just like you always wanted, you'd be very proud...'

Naruto was busy bringing his ramen back to the table when he slipped, banging his head off of a table and landed on the floor, spilling the contents over himself causing his bruises and cuts from his fight to burn and ache… he had hit his head pretty hard and he began to lose consciousness…

* * *

Murmurs spread amongst the crowd, was it all over?

Naruto lay on the ground, pretty much unconscious.

'_Get up.' Said a voice inside his head the voice was a slightly deeper and more twisted version of his own voice._

'What?' he responded, expecting himself to come up with a reply to satisfy his curiosity.

'_Get up' said the new voice_

'What's the point? Everyone here wanted me to get my ass kicked anyway…' He asked, face and body still throbbing in pain.

'_Wrong' the voice said with a quite, low, gruff laugh. "They want you to win… listen, what can you hear?"_

Aside from the ringing in his ears the young blond couldn't hear anything at all, other than Zaku and Dosu's voices, but they were too quiet for him to hear exact words.

'…Nothing...' he answered 'I can't hear anything… so what?'

'_Figure it out, yourself… and get up, that guy with the bandages is looking through your bag… oh and the kid with the black hair is about to leave. If he gets away you won't get another shot at him…" The voice told him. '...but none of this will matter if you don't get up...'_

blissfully unaware of his victims current status, Dosu was indeed looking through Naruto's bag, apparently unimpressed with his finds.

"Hey Zaku" he said "The kid doesn't have anything worthwhile in here… just schoolwork and some pencils…"

"Ah well" Said Zaku "At least he put up a little struggle… still he was as pathetic as everyone else at this scho--"

"Something wrong Zaku?" Dosu asked, confused by his friend's sudden silence.

It wasn't long however until he too noticed what was up. Naruto Uzumaki had stood up once more, and he did not look happy. His hair was more wild than it had previously been, his clenched his fists forced his fingernails into his pals, drawing dabs of blood. His eyes were now a deep shade of red and burned with something that was far from compassion.

Naruto slowly turned his gaze to Zaku and Dosu. "Which one of you punched me in the face just now?"

Dosu continued to watch, trying desperatley to figure out just what could have gone on in the blonde's head during the time he had been lying on the ground. He was far to concerned to answer the question.

"That'd be me" Zaku answered, sneered in Naruto's direction.

His glare intensified, something was wrong… this kid looked far stronger than before… his wounds were hardly a bother to him.

"Dosu!" Zaku yelled, snapping his friend out of his thoughts "what's wrong? You're not getting' cold feet are ya?!

"No, Zaku, you don't understand!!" Dosu called out, still afraid of Naruto's new demeanour.

"Watch this; I'll take care of him in one swoop!" Zaku yelled as he lunged, pulling back his fist to land another punch.

Zaku's fist met Naruto's hand, Naruto's grip tightened around the fist, crushing it.

Zaku let out a howl of pain, the crowd gasped, Dosu was stunned and Naruto was grinning a toothy, fox like, grin.

"This is the last time you two will pick on anyone…" he growled "I'll put a stop to you once and for all, got it?!"

'_Yeah right… you're fighting for your own pride... don't worry, I promise you'll enjoy it…' the voice in his head laughed once more 'this'll be interesting…'_

Zaku snapped out of his stunned state and attempted another punch with his free hand, but before the black haired boy had even clenched his fist, Naruto landed a kick low in the other boy's stomach.

"Don't worry" growled Naruto "this won't take long…"

* * *

**A/N**: Cliff hanger, yay!

Anyway, next chapter will deal with Neji, Shikamaru and Sasuke and what they're getting up to, then I'll spend about 3 chapters (maybe 2) dealing with Naruto and Hinata's meeting, the end of the fight and Gaara coming to help Naruto. Sorry this wasn't an especially long chapter... it just seemed fitting to end it where I did.

I'd say part 1 should be over by around chapter 30…. But don't quote me on that!

As usual, reviews are appreciated and please excuse any rogue spelling mistakes.


	27. Naruto: Oops

**Disclaimer**: Dis Claimer, Dat Claimer, Dem Claimers.

* * *

**Tuesday 30th****­ **October 4:20pm inside Kage Private School.

How could he have been so stupid? He had lost his temper for his own selfish reasons, for his own selfish pride, and let two other people get hurt because of that. Granted he didn't remember much about the event, he remembered a lot of pain – which was still there – and he remembered a lot of kicking and punching and head-butting then his mind went blank for a while and then he remembered Gaara standing between him and that kid with the mutton-chop hairstyle – Zaku or something.

Minutes later Naruto was sitting in the Kage School's principle's office. She had also shown up at the fight which Naruto was struggling to remember completely. She had sent all of the gawking onlookers on their way, herding them to their missed-busses and parked car-pools. Kiba Inuzuka, a childhood 'friend' had gone to fetch Tsunade to save Naruto from Zaku and Dosu. If Naruto wasn't so shaken up and bruised he would have half-laughed at the irony which he half-understood.

Anyway, Tsunade had taken him to her office and phoned Deidara to come and pick him up while she assured Kiba that everything was under control now. Gaara had gone off alone somewhere – "I'm glad you're ok, Naruto Uzumaki" – and…. Naruto was sure there was someone else he had forgotten.

"Hinata!" he said aloud, he couldn't believe he had forgotten to meet her.

It was 4:26 pm, judging by Tsunade's clock, and he was supposed to meet Hinata at 4:00 pm, it was too late to learn to dance, he wouldn't be able to complete "The Plan", he wouldn't get Sakura and, most importantly, Ino was going to kill him!

He eyed the door, if he could just go and tell Hinata he was sorry then Ino wouldn't have to kill him for messing up the whole thing!

He stood up and began to go to the door.

Before he could make his not-so-daring escape however, Tsunade opened the door again, followed by a rather well dressed Deidara.

"Sit down, Naruto" Tsunade said.

He did so as he prepared for a lecture.

"I thought you weren't gonna…. You know…. Go nuts like that again" Deidara asked him, Tsunade scowled at him while Naruto smiled a little.

Tsuande began to lecture Naruto on why what he did was wrong, how much danger he was in for even beginning to fight those two boys and for everything else she could seem to think of.

"_Anyway"_ Tsunade said "you got lucky, no charges are being pressed due to self defence and Zaku and Dosu are both fine, relatively speaking"

"What a pity" Deidara said under his breath

"Deidara!" Tsunade snapped at him  
"What?" he asked

"Don't say things like that!"

"Why not? I've heard you talk about those kids before sis! They were assholes, real trouble makers, yeah? I doubt you'll see much trouble now"

"That's not the point! Look…. Just take Naruto home ok?"

"Oh come on!" Deidara yelled

"Oh, what now?" she sighed

"Me and Sasori are goin' out tonight! I'm already late, yeah? _Please_ don't do this to me! Sasori _hates_ to wait!" He whined

"I don't mind making my own way home" Naruto piped up "I have some stuff to take care of anyway, so…."

Tsunade looked at him, looked at Deidara and sighed. "Fine, run along Deidara." She told him. He complied, ruffling Naruto's hair as he passed him – "Don't wait up, yeah? I might not even be back till morning if I'm lucky" he said with a wink

"Too much information" Naruto whined as he got up to follow his uncle.

"Naruto" Tsunade called after him "Could you wait a second?"

"Sure" he blinked, assuming everything was ok by this point "What's up?"

"Your father would be upset with you for what happened, you know that, don't you?" She asked him with a sympathetic look

"Yeah… I know…" he said while staring at his feet "I… I was going to tell him, explain what happened... apologise for it all, that's where I was going after this…"

Tsunade put her hand on his shoulder and smiled at him "He would be upset with what happened, but I'm sure he's very happy with you as a person, very happy with how Naruto Uzumaki is growing up. Now scram"

He smiled at her and turned to leave.

"Oh." She said, delaying him again "There's someone in the Library you should talk to, she'll be gone in a few minutes, you have until 4:45, which it almost is, so you best hurry."

He looked at her, confused, until she realised "oh, right, second floor – almost directly above this office, there are signs all over school, you'll find it, you won't regret it. Now go on, get!"

He took off in the opposite direction, head still pounding from his fight, hands sore, feet sore, legs sore, ribs sore and his head swimming with thoughts about his father and who this person in the library was, not wanting to miss them he decided to quicken his pace to a small run.

The halls of the school were made of stone but mainly painted a dull wooden brown, just what you'd expect from private education really, and the doors made of a thick wood to match the walls. The doors were probably opened wide during school hours but there was a vast amount of closed wooden doors anywhere you would look, because they had no glass panes on them it made things a little difficult to see.

On the upside, though, the doors made a nice thick '**Tha-whack**' noise when they were pushed hard and they swung back to collide with the wood-coloured-stone walls.

**Tha-whack. No library.**

**Tha-whack. No library.**

**Tha-whack. No library.**

Finally after a lot of running about he had found it, the library, or a sign post that informed him it was in the corridor behind yet another closed windowless wooden door. He put both hands on it and pushed it open forcefully. It hit something. Something which made a '**Ka-thunk**' noise.

Not a wall, a person. Naruto's heart sank, the last thing he needed was to beat up ANOTHER member of this school.

"Ouch!" squealed a girl (he guessed) on the other side of the door

Naruto rushed to her side, he could tell she was a girl from her uniform but he could see her face, when the door had collided with her she must have gotten a fright and threw her school papers and books in the air, and they had all landed on her face and head.

"Are you ok?!" he asked "I am _so_ sorry, I didn't mean to… I didn't think…"

"Na…Naruto… I'm fine, really" said the voice softly with a heavy dosage of embarrassment

Naruto paused. "…Hinata?"

Ino was _definitely _going to kill him for this.

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry x like, 1,000,000 for the lateeeee update. **Check my profile for reasons if you care**... or chew me out about it in a review! Or just review in general.

Fanfiction should be finished relativley soon, I start university on the 30th, so I'll probably get more into the routine of updating reguarly. maybe.

**Check my profile because I updated it**


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